In this episode

How does the mining industry ensure it builds strong relationships with communities and Indigenous Peoples, respects human rights, and creates lasting benefits in the regions where it operates? In this episode, we explore the many ways mining companies consult with communities from exploration through operation and closure. We highlight The United Nations Centro Originarias program and hear from participant María Eliana Jofré Caqueo on how it helped her grow her business.

Guests: 
Amparo Cornejo, VP, Teck South America
Herman Urrejola, Director, Social Management and Communities, Teck Chile
Jillian Lennartz, Manager Sustainability Reporting, Teck (Jill from Teck)

Transcript

00:00:04

Robin Stickley: This is a perfect sunny Sunday afternoon. I'm cruising around at my community farmer's market, the local farmer's market here, and just kind of going from stall to stall. I love it here because the food is fantastic, seasonal food. For me personally, it's fantastic just to meet the people, support local family farming, have a chat with the folks that have grown your food. Most of these people come from five, six, seven kilometers away, so there's that piece, but this feels good. It's definitely a feeling of supporting small businesses and a feeling of community. You don't always get that in a big city.

I have the sense that farmers markets are just, they're more than selling the wares, selling the food. They are this gathering place, this central spot for communities. And they bring people together, of course, and it just felt like as I was considering a space that brings community together and supports the members of that community, this was a kind of good grassroots place to be. It felt like a good jumping off point for a bigger conversation today about investing in global communities.

If we think about the concept of a global community, it can seem as remote as a fishing village on the edge of the world, or an abstract concept that fills the pages of thought pieces in airline magazines. However, as I learn more about mining's role in the communities in which it operates, I'm beginning to shape my thinking. Every community is a global community. Some are touched by heavy industry in the middle of sprawling cities, while others have minds just over yonder. But how each industry interacts with the people, schools, governments, and resources at the heart of their operation and someone else's community is an intersection I'm curious to explore in more detail.

We'll begin today's conversation with Amparo Cornejo, Vice President, South America, Teck, and Herman Urrejola, Social Management and Communities Director, Teck Chile, to discuss mining's role in local communities, investments it's making now, and those which will bear fruits in the future. I'm Robin Stickley. This is Why We Mine.

Okay, kicking things off back here now with Jill, the Manager of Sustainability Reporting for Teck and the scientist with social skills. Heck yeah.

Hey Jill, thanks for joining me.

00:03:01

Jill: Hi, I'm happy to be here.

00:03:02

Robin Stickley:  And I'm really interested in what we're talking about today and what you are going to share with us about today's topic because for me, and admittedly this is maybe a narrow view, but sustainability, when I think about that, I'm thinking about things that are environmental and reducing waste and talking climate change, things like that. But we're going to expand on that into social impact. How does that fit into the conversation though? I'm super interested in learning more.

00:03:29

Jill: Of course. That is a really good point and one that I hear quite a bit as well, as a sustainability professional, I think it's a lot to do with the terminology as well, like sustainability, green, environment. In our language seems to have some real silos when it comes to it.

00:03:47

Robin Stickley: We're talking about something bigger, something that kind of folds into what I'll call like a sustainability umbrella.

00:03:53

Jill: Yeah, I have referred to it in the past as broad- spectrum sustainability. I started to use the term value to refer to the value of people, like the value of work, the value of resources, and when we're talking about the bottom line, it's starting to evolve beyond just the value of money and money will still be around, but sustainable business MBAs out there now are starting to learn that there's more to it than that. So the Sloan School of Business at MIT teaches about the triple bottom line. People, planet, profit. They love their alliteration and I am here for it.

00:04:34

Robin Stickley: So when we're talking sustainability and we're talking about sustainable business, it can't just be about the environmental. There also has to be this element of social, what I'll call social responsibility.

00:04:45

Jill: Yeah, it all impacts each other.

00:04:47

Robin Stickley: So is this idea really catching on? Is there a buy- in to this?

00:04:54

Jill: The United Nations has put together 17 high-level topics, include clean energy, ending poverty and hunger, decent work, economic growth, protecting life on land, life below water, improving water quality and sanitation for people around the globe. There's 17 of them. It's pretty broad spectrum,

00:05:14

Robin Stickley: And when you're reading those out loud, I'm thinking, okay, people, plan, a profit, all aspects of that covered in there. Is this widely recognized? Is this widely adopted?

00:05:25

Jill: It is certainly getting traction. They kicked off the SDGs, I think it was in 2015. I was kind of a baby sustainability practitioner at that point, and the UN really leaned hard into it, and all of the member organizations of the UN are certainly leaned into it, and the UN has this organization called the UN Global Compact. It's their arm of engagement that works with businesses. And so the UN Global Compact with all of the businesses that are signatories of it, including Teck, we're a signatory. The business world is doing its part to engage with the UN working toward these goals as well. Many organizations are reporting on their progress against them, and as signatories, you're required to report on your progress against them and at Teck, we certainly do that.

00:06:14

Robin Stickley: So social responsibility is part of good business. That makes total sense to me. But you know that the journalist in me is going to say, prove it or show me the money, show me the measurements.

00:06:25

Jill: And as a scientist, I'm right there with you. Where's the data?

00:06:28

Robin Stickley: Right. Where's the data? Yeah.

00:06:30

Jill: Yeah. You're trying to quantify something that's a little more qualitative, and there are studies out there that support the concept of social value. I know you'll be speaking to my colleagues in Chile about women and community investment, and there are lots of statistics published. Some of them vary a little bit, so I won't cite an exact number, but in general, women tend to invest more of the income back into their families and communities, and there are a litany of companies out there that feel the same way and have specific programs to support that. World Bank, International Monetary Fund, UN Women, all sorts of organizations.

00:07:08

Robin Stickley: I love it. I love the idea that to do the most good, you have to invest in women as well as in communities. That to me is very positive.

00:07:16

Jill: Exactly.

00:07:17

Robin Stickley: Gives me hope for social improvement.

00:07:20

Jill: I live to give hope. You're welcome.

00:07:23

Robin Stickley: Great chatting with you. I am going to go check in with the experts now and dig into this topic a little bit more. You're listening to Why We Mine. I'm Robin Stickley. I'd like to begin today's conversation by talking to Amparo Cornejo about the role of local communities in the mining industry. Amparo Cornejo, welcome to Why we Mine.

00:07:49

Amparo Cornejo: It's a pleasure to meet. Thank you for inviting me to this conversation about mining and this passion that we share.

00:07:56

Robin Stickley: Amparo, I'd love to hear more about your journey to becoming Vice President, South America at Teck.

00:08:03

Amparo Cornejo: I have been working in the natural resources sector for the last over 20 years. I'm very much focused in communities, government affairs, communications, so very important focus for me has been to really work in this area. I've joined Teck almost nine years ago and initially I started working as Director of Public Affairs and Communities. We in Chile in South America, and at that moment we were starting to evaluate environmental evaluation to a very big project, which is Quebrada Blanca Phase 2, which is the biggest project that Teck has. And we really had to focus a lot in the sustainability elements of that project because it's the biggest mine that has been built in Chile in the last 15 years. And of course the challenges of building a big operation from the sustainability components are very important. So I've started focusing on that, working with communities, developing long- term relations with them, very focused in reducing our environmental footprint. And then my position grew to VP Sustainability and Corporate Affairs and very recently moved to Vice President, South America.

00:09:27

Robin Stickley: If we take a step back and look at how mining interacts with local communities Amparo, let's say we're talking from a 10, 000-foot view, how have those relationships changed and evolved over time?

00:09:40

Amparo Cornejo: Well, Robin, I think that maybe in the early stages the relationship with communities was much more transactional and I would say that in the past, the mining industry might not be very close to the communities and I think the communities didn't trust a lot the mining industry. And what I've seen across the years, it's an evolution from that situation passing through a very transactional relation at some moment, to a moment like the one we have today where there is a better understanding on the communities from the mining industry itself and also a better understanding of the communities of what mining can generate in the territories. One area that for us in taking Chile have been very important are some programs that we have together with communities where the communities actively participate in environmental monitoring program. So for example, water is a big issue for communities.

They always have a big concern and they will want to understand what is the quality of water if there is an impact. So for example, we do have a problem with a community called (foreign language) , which is an Indigenous community located very close to our operation and we do a joint monitoring program. We also have programs in relation with the dust and air quality with other communities that are very close to the roads that we use and they are the monitors. So I would like to bring those examples because those examples demonstrate how you can work together in areas that are very important, that are part of the core of the mining activity, but for the communities are relevant. So where you have trust, you can work together and have a joint view of the future, both for the communities and for the mining activity that takes place in that territory.

00:11:41

Robin Stickley: I'm curious to know from a high level, where do non- governmental organizations like the United Nations fit into the programs that are being created for local communities?

00:11:53

Amparo Cornejo: Well, as a mining company, we do have several programs. Some of them are a part of the direct relation with them, other ones are part of our environmental obligations with them, but there is a third level of programs that involve third parties, and in this case, UN Women, who is an NGO. And the origin of the program that we partnered with UN Women started six years ago when we were really focusing two key social elements or social issues that impact the communities where we operate.

One, are the Indigenous issues impacting Indigenous people, and on the other hand, we were concerned about inclusion and diversity and what is the impact of mining activity in the women that live in those territories. More than 300 Indigenous women in the region of Tarapacá, where we work in Chile with our operation Quebrada Blanca, have been already trained and they're developing their own small businesses and a special center has been built for that purpose. So going to your question Robin, I think the relation with communities and a third party is always beneficial. I think for us, this project is maybe the most critical and most important program that we have in Latin America, in Teck. We believe that the impact of this project is very big, not only for the amount of people that have already been trained and supported, but for this big social impact in societies like ours where inclusion and diversity is still a big issue and also because of the Indigenous component of the problem.

00:13:45

Robin Stickley: If we're talking about local companies and stakeholders in these communities, how should the industry work with, let's say, metal suppliers and integrate them into the supply chain so that they start to really feel like they're part of the industry and its success in the area?

00:14:02

Amparo Cornejo: Well, I think the first element for a company like ours or other big mining companies is to recognize that you are part of the territory and you need to work with the people that live there. So once you define that and really strengthen all your efforts to include people that live in the region, to work with you, to be part of the value chain of the business, I think that is a very important element.

 In addition, I believe that mining companies should also help local groups and especially Indigenous group to develop a small businesses or bigger businesses that are part of the contracting efforts. For example, I was sharing with you that we are building this very big project in Chile that is the biggest one built in the last 15 years, and one of the programs that we established very early when the project was not yet been built was a program called (foreign language) . It's Spanish. So basically the concept is that you train local people to be able to work in the industry. I think if the companies don't do that effort, that connection will never happen. On one hand, you need to develop people to work with you and on the other hand how you develop local suppliers. For us, those are two critical programs.

00:15:30

Robin Stickley: As we're wrapping up, Amparo, let me ask you if you're looking at the next decade or two, what do you see as the future between local communities and the resource industry?

00:15:41

Amparo Cornejo: I think that the mining industry, it's only viable if you have a social acceptance for doing that. The relation needs to be strengthened. Mining industry has the capacity of transforming the life of people, the workers of the companies, but also the communities. So I envision a future space of collaboration where local communities trust the mining company, where they see the value that generates. I also envision that the future of the mining industry is going to be a more diverse and inclusive. For example, in Chile, the participation of women in the industry is around 13%, one three. As we in Teck are very proud because we have been able to reach 27% of participation of women, and that is something that does not happen by itself. Basically it depends on the focus and effort that you put. And when you say that you will include more people and more women into the mining industry, it means that the impact that you are having, especially in the local communities, is bigger.

Because today or until today, most of the women have not been able to work in the industry. So I envision a future of collaboration of inclusion and diversity in increasing inclusion and diversity and also a space where the mining industry helps develop education in those communities. In that way, I think the impact of the industry is going to be positive and those negative impacts or those environmental or other material impacts that the industry has are going to be mitigated and compensated in a world that needs more metals, and especially more copper, in order to advance the carbonization.

00:17:44

Robin Stickley: Amparo, this has been really wonderful. Thanks so much for talking with us today.

00:17:49

Amparo Cornejo: Now thank you very much for the opportunity of having this conversation.

00:17:59

Robin Stickley: Next up, Herman Urrejola, Social Management and Communities Director, Teck Chile, is here to talk about how the mining industry impacts local communities at the micro level. Herman Urrejola, welcome to Why We Mine. Herman, I'd like to know a little bit more about your journey to become Social Management and Community Director for Teck Chile. Can you tell us about that?

00:18:28

Herman Urrejola: Thank you so much, Robin, for the invitation and the opportunity to be here with you. I start working on forest management and soil recovery programs with Indigenous communities around 20 years ago. I've been with Teck for 10 years. I started as a Social Coordinator for a project called (foreign language)  and since that time I've been working in different roles and different topics.

00:18:55

Robin Stickley: So if you were describing the role, Herman, are you the connection between Teck and the local people? The local community?

00:19:03

Herman Urrejola: I'm responsible for two mining operations here in Chile and also we have the QB2 project, so I'm in charge of all the social aspects from operations and projects, also the coordination with joint ventures and other tax participation in different initiatives. So basically, my role is dedicated to ensure all the community relation aspects, agreements, execution of commitments, community development programs for both QB, Quebrada Blanca, and Carmen de Andacollo, we call CDA.

00:19:39

Robin Stickley: Tell me a little bit, Herman, about from your perspective Teck's relationship with local communities in Chile and has it changed over the years?

00:19:49

Herman Urrejola: Well, because Teck also has changed over the years, so we are now basically finalizing the construction of the biggest mining project in the country. So in order to be ready for this, we had to do a lot of things in advance, all the conversations, all the dialogue that we had to have with communities in order to get, most of the times, consent, took us several years. So we are a team that goes in advance, compared with the construction team. We need to set all the things in place before the construction team can start work. So from that point I think that we were able to have more people on the team to increase our budget, to develop new strategies, to develop new programs and partnerships. So it has been a very interesting path of continuous improvement. I think that we're always trying to make things better and for that also the feedback that we are receiving for the communities are directing this process also.

00:20:55

Robin Stickley: Herman, can you tell me about Originarias, the Teck UN Women's program?

00:21:00

Herman Urrejola: One of the main differences that I see compared with other projects that tends to work in promoting economic development is that the Originarias program is based in a four pillars approach: access to training, economic participation, rights, and heritage. Heritage slash culture. So perhaps the most relevant discussions with the UN was in order to ensure to have a long-term sustainable development, and this can be based on what the women consider most relevant, we should include culture, we should include also understanding of their rights as a person, as an Indigenous person, as a woman. It's important to remember that everybody is coming from different environments, sometimes very harsh and complicated environments. So for that it's so important that somebody can understand their traditions, their culture, and especially their rights, what is right and what is wrong, because we are still working, as a developed country, in trying to put behind some issues that we have as a society in terms of violence against women and other topics that can be a serious stopper for other activities and for sure to achieve a long- term economic development.

00:22:29

Robin Stickley: Herman, I think you touched on this a little bit, but I'm going to ask you to maybe go over it a little bit again for me. The training and the education programs that Teck has implemented through Originarias. Can you talk about that?

00:22:41

Herman Urrejola: Yes. The thing is that we have been working in is different aspects at the same time. For example, we, as part of the program, what we have right now is, how to say in English is " train the trainers." So we need to develop a pool of women that can be the next generation of people that will be part of the program and they can ensure their experience with other women. We have goals and objectives, but the only way that we can make this project sustainable in time is if we are incorporating that feedback into the design and the progression of the center in the next five years. So we already signed the extension with the UN Women for five additional years. So we have from 2022-2027. So we expect by the end of that time we have a very strong and self- sufficient organization that can lead the future development of this program.

00:23:47

Robin Stickley: Is that the idea then that there will be a point where it's self- sustaining? Or is the idea that there will always be a partnership, Teck and UN Women, are they lifelong partners or is the goal to become self- sustaining?

00:23:58

Herman Urrejola:So far we have, as I mentioned, a five- year agreement with UN. I think that I have some ideas, the team has some ideas, but we need to cross those ideas with the feedback coming from, especially from the women, because we want to transfer as much decision power responsibilities to local women so they can... It's the only way that we see that this program is going to be self- sustainable and it's going to last as long as it can, but we need to check how much of that involvement or not involvement the women decide that can be the best approach.

Because for sure the idea is to have a more self- sustainable project in five years, but perhaps based on this transferring process, the feedback that we received from them is to be partners in a different way. So that form is still under discussion and I think it's going to take us a couple of years until we get to this situation. I think the key aspect that we need to achieve right now is to ensure some level of independence in terms of funding and how they allocate resources so they can... I don't know, we have teachers, we have people working at the center, so things like that and there are many opportunities that we already identified. There is a business analysis by a university proposing different business models for the center, so there are some steps already made to advance into that direction.

00:25:41

Robin Stickley: It's wonderful to hear you talking about the concept, the idea of empowering women, showing them the way and allowing them to take those leadership roles. That's wonderful to hear. If you are looking forward now to the future, what do you think is the way ahead for companies, not just for mining companies, but for companies in general who want to do what you're doing, investing, engaging in local communities, what does that look like going forward?

00:26:07

Herman Urrejola: It's a very complicated question. Big question and perhaps regardless of the size of the project or the activity or the mine, it's always necessary to address several dimensions at the same time. When you work with people, one key aspect also is to have the time to listen and to tune up with the things that are relevant and important for the local communities and also to forget about the things that we consider important and start working into the things that the communities and local people consider important and move from that point. Sometimes we assume that some issues are already solved and that's not the case. So that's why it's so important to have that process and to take time to listen.

00:26:57

Robin Stickley: I've learned so much today and it's been a real pleasure to connect with you. Thank you for being with us.

00:27:03

Herman Urrejola: Oh, thank you so much.

00:27:04

Robin Stickley: Let's hear from María Eliana Jofré Caqueo, a participant in the Originarias program translated by Nico Tapia.

00:27:17

Nico Tapia (Translator): My name is María Eliana Jofré Caqueo. I am a bee keeper and an Indigenous woman of the Aymara people. At this stage of our lives, with my husband, we decided to add what we can do for this planet and that's why we decided to farm bees in 2018. They are like daughters to me. We have shown that we have been able to build a green spot in desert and well, it is wonderful. After this, I needed a push. That's how I participated in a course. I was invited by the Originarias program of UN Women and Teck Quebrada Blanca to participate in a leadership and entrepreneurship training. The prototype was to bottle honey, to extract honey from the hives. I had never done it before. And they tasted it and the honey was exquisite. Wonderful. It is an exclusive honey, a gourmet honey. During this time that I have been participating in Originarias, I think I have strengthened my roots and I realized that here, working with the Pachamama, connecting with the nature, the same connection I have with my bees. I think I was keeping it all inside before and now it's come to the surface.

00:29:04

Robin Stickley: Relationships matter most. That's the lesson I'm taking away from this episode. When a company like Teck consults a community to learn about its people and understand what kind of support it needs, the benefits on both sides run deep. As Herman explained to us, those needs could be as fundamental as sleeping facilities or as specific as education. I was also buoyed to hear empowering women in these communities is paramount. When doors are opened for women to be front and center, when they have access to education and training and a voice to bring about change, well, it's a huge win for all, today and future generations. I had this early idea that a global economies conversation would mean we'd be talking about setting up shop and employing and training a workforce in different countries around the world. But what's clear is that success hinges on cultivating the relationships first, a critical investment and one that never loses its value.

I'm Robin Stickley. Thanks for listening to this podcast, brought to you by Teck. This is Why We Mine. Why We Mine is brought to you by Teck. Our producer is Andrew Pemberton- Fowler. Our sound engineer is Diego Domine, and our production assistant is Hugh Perkic. Additional production support provided by JAR Audio.

Resources

Communities and Indigenous Peoples

Community Investment

Originarias

Economic Contributions