When You Arrive

Preliminary meetings with other companies, the embassy, Chamber of Mines, community relations consultancies and other entities will help you verify your research. Share your information with them, ask for their assessment of whether it is accurate, and ask what else you should know. For example, do they have advice about what you should or shouldn’t discuss with community stakeholders? Can they identify any big local issues you should be aware of or discuss the legacy of mining in the area?

Sometimes showing up in the project area without an invitation letter from the government or other authorities may lead to suspicion or refusal of access to the project site.

In most cases, it’s helpful to hire a translator who is not from the local area. Bringing in an outsider can help you avoid unintentionally aligning yourself with a particular group in the community and making a poor first impression by demonstrating a bias towards one group. Other companies working in the area, business associations, your embassy or consulting firms can recommend qualified translators to you.

It’s important to spend time with your translator before arriving at the project site. He or she can learn the company’s messaging through conversation with you, rather than hearing it for the first time during the initial meeting. Also check whether the local language has terms for exploration and other activities you may wish to discuss. Many indigenous languages lack many of the usual exploration and mining terms.

Most cultures require that first meetings follow a certain protocol that specifies who you need to see first. This could be a local mayor, a chief, a traditional leader or someone who informally represents the community. Sometimes these first meetings involve gift-giving or other customs. If you can’t find out during your high-level meetings what the local customs are, ask owners of local shops or businesses as you approach the project area – they should be able to advise you.

Also check whether there are any inappropriate gestures or body language you should avoid (e.g., in some parts of the world, showing the sole of your shoe is considered rude).

Also ask during initial discussions if it would be wise to get cross-cultural sensitization training and, if so, who offers it.

It‘s often helpful to solicit suggestions from the people you meet with about who the key stakeholders are, even if you won’t be able to meet with them all. Not only can this process give you a sense of how well institutions at the capital level are connected to the project area, but it may give you the “legitimacy” to conduct visits in the project area (i.e., “I’m here because the Chamber of Mines suggested I visit with X or Y”).

• Are there many people on the street? How do people move: by foot or community taxi, or do they have their own cars?
• Observe buildings, noting construction materials, conditions and up- keep. For example, roofs made out of leaves, corrugated iron or clay tiles, and peeling paint, cracks in masonry and boarded windows may indicate relative poverty.
• Notice driving behavior: do local taxis and other traffic pose a safety risk to the community (and potentially the exploration team)?
• If this is an agricultural area is farming mechanized or done by hand?
• Are the land plots small or large, subsistence or industrial?
• Look at the local markets: are they large and abundant? Do they have a great variety of vendors, or do they largely consist of small food stalls?
• Are there any banks in the area or does it seem to be a cash economy?
• Are there many school-aged kids on the street during working hours?
• Look for exceptions, such as things that appear to be “different.” Are there mansions in an otherwise modest town? Are there large land plots among small ones? Does one area of town look better kept than all the other areas?
• What goods or services appear to be available in local markets or in the centre of town?
• Look for the presence of services that indicate disposable income: bars, restaurants, video halls, internet cafés, and so on.
• Assess the safety situation: do people walk around at night? Are there any night markets? Do women walk by themselves after dark?
• Are there any signs of small-scale mining (e.g., gold buying outfits, lots of places that sell water-pumps, buckets)? 

• Is there any indication that the community follows a municipal development plan?
• Are infrastructure services visible (e.g., waste collection, water reservoirs, quality of roads, phone towers, public transport)?
• Is there any visible presence of state security/police forces? If so, what signal does their presence send? Are they patrolling officers or a paramilitary-style militia?
• Drive by the schools, clinics, water stands and other public services: are there any signs of overcrowding?
• Do you see any posters of political parties posted? These could indicate that the area is considered important enough for campaigning. Where possible, try to assess the local view of national and local politicians to verify their level of popular support.

• Do other companies’ cars have meshed windows? Are there any signs of damage to company vehicles as a result of stone throwing?
• What message are companies sending through employees’ driving behaviour? Are they driving slowly with the windows down or fast and furious?
• If the companies have notice boards, are these still intact or have they been vandalized?
• Are there any anti- and/or pro-mining slogans on walls, buildings or other structures?
• When you wave to people, do they wave back?
• Do job seekers hang out in front of the main gate of sites?
• Do company employees wear clothes with the company logo when they are in town?
• Is there any sign of an influx of people (e.g., crowded houses, new houses built in backyards)?