Deanna Kemp

• PhD, MSocSci, BBus
• Managing Director at The University of Queensland

This paper examines a critical yet underexplored perspective on resource geopolitics by focusing on mine waste–one of the world’s largest waste streams by volume. Traditional studies of resource geopolitics emphasise the governance of raw materials production, trade and supply chains. Our approach positions mine waste as a factor shaping twenty-fir...

This study examines a unique form of public inquiry that we refer to as “privately commissioned public inquiries.” These inquiries focus on events or incidents that indicate broader structural problems of neglect, misjudgment, or injustice. Using qualitative interview methods, we explore such an inquiry in the global mining industry. We ask: what m...

This article introduces the notion of ‘disaster scenes’. In this work, we draw on interview data collected from residents impacted by the Jagersfontein tailings disaster in South Africa in September 2022. Our methodological aim is to reconstruct the experiences of impacted people in the format of empirically derived disaster scenes. These scenes pr...

This study provides a sociohistorical account of decisions made over a 150-year period about the Jagersfontein mine in South Africa’s Free State and the catastrophic failure of its tailings dam that occurred in the early morning of 11 September 2022. The failure resulted in the sudden and uncontrolled release of more than 6 million m3 of liquid slu...

To make projections about the future supply of minerals for the energy transition and set climate targets, it is important to understand inventories of mineral resources as well as national extraction policies. Here, we combine data on mining properties and policies between 2020 and 2023 for 18 countries with substantial resources of energy transit...

As the mining industry expands, a comprehensive understanding of its socioeconomic risks and benefits is urgently needed. This paper systematically reviews 71 studies (1996–2021) that utilized spatially integrated approaches to evaluate socioeconomic mining impacts. The number of studies that utilize geographic information systems and remote sensin...

Any functional utility gained through corporate social responsibility (CSR) depends on "responsibility" as the governing principle between "corporate" and "social" interests. We argue that Porter and Kramer's highly popularised notion of "shared value" has been pivotal to the erosion of responsibility as a moderating concept in CSR. Under this appr...

China produces nearly half of the world’s coal and more than half of the global coal-fired electricity. Its CO2 emissions are higher than the combined volumes of the next three world regions—the US, Europe, and India. China has announced a net-zero commitment by 2060. This timeline creates enormous pressure to maintain energy security while phasing...

In May 2020, when Rio Tinto destroyed ancient rockshelters in Western Australia to expand an iron ore mine, public outcry triggered a parliamentary inquiry. The value and effect of public sector inquiries have been debated for over a century. While the Juukan Gorge inquiry overlooked some important issues, it succeeded in illuminating critical flaw...

Grievance landscapes form in rapidly industrialising contexts where social and environmental impacts are inevitable. This paper focuses on the complex operational and organisational settings in which grievances arise and the industrial pathologies that form around resource development projects. The arguments draw on classic and contemporary literat...

We develop a novel approach to analysing decarbonisation strategies by linking global resource inventories with demographic systems. Our ‘mine-town systems’ approach establishes an empirical basis for examining the spatial extent of the transition and demographic effects of changing energy systems. The research highlights an urgent need for targete...

Rapidly transitioning the global energy system to renewables is considered necessary to combat climate change. Current estimates suggest that at least 30 energy transition minerals and metals (ETMs) form the material base for the energy transition. The inventory of ETMs indicates a high level of intersectionality with territories less impacted by t...

This special issue aims to create a space for rethinking current approaches to “complex orebodies”. Our introductory paper surveys recent developments in the field and identifies a range of challenges that are affecting our collective ability to engage the complex systems associated with future global metal supply. Interdisciplinary mining research...

Energy transition mineral and metals (ETM) are being widely discussed for their utility in combating climate change. However, their contribution with respect to social and environmental impact does not feature prominently in contemporary debates. In this paper we present findings showing the extent to which the world's ETM projects will intersect w...

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a fundamentally normative construction. It speaks to what social responsibility should look like, who it should apply to, and how it should be demonstrated. By contrast, the analytic position of the corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) discourse is evidence‐based, and objects to the notion that companies...

Negotiated agreements are now a commonplace mechanism for governing the relationship between mining companies and Indigenous peoples. What is not commonplace are agreements in which Indigenous people acquire an equity stake in industrial-scale projects on their land. Recent and powerful calls for greater Indigenous control of mining projects have d...

Local resource curse problems epitomize the difficult interface dynamics confronting resource developers and host communities. These problems centre on the opportunity costs that local people encounter due to their proximity to resource development projects. Our fundamental objection is the working assumption – and in some cases the proposition – t...

Over the past half century, hydropower dams have displaced 40–80 million people around the world. In the development literature, the outcome of these shocks is represented in the form of “absolute deprivation.” The policy norms surrounding development‐induced displacement and resettlement, across all industries, prioritize compensation as the prima...

Criticality and supply risk models seek to address concerns of potential disruption to global metal supply. These models need to incorporate disruption events that arise from within the mining industry's market structure. In this paper, we review what we refer to as events of "mine life cycle disruption". These include project abandonments, prematu...

Privately commissioned public inquiries in extractive industries are an enormously rich source of data for scholars of global environmental politics. This untapped arena comprises a series of unconventional inquiries in response to contentious socioenvironmental events and incidents, whereby large resource companies commission studies, relinquish c...

The authors present a multidimensional analysis of vulnerability conditions surrounding a global cohort of 270 mining induced displacement and resettlement (MIDR) events. A global dataset of MIDR events was compiled using publicly disclosed sources of information and is a repository of displacement events that enables independent examination of MID...

The concept of a ‘just transition’ to a low‐carbon economy is firmly embedded in mainstream global discourses about mitigating climate change. Drawing on Karl Polanyi's political economy elaborated in The Great Transformation, we interrogate the idea of a just transition and place it within its historical context. We address a major contradiction a...

The demand for transparency in the mining sector has increased since the 1980s. Our study focused on the public reporting of four South African mining corporations and their disclosures on mine closure. South Africa was identified based on its history of mine abandonment. We found that reporting on mainstream environmental and financial matters, co...

The demand for transparency in the mining sector has increased since the 1980s. Our study focused on the public reporting of four South African mining corporations and their disclosures on mine closure. South Africa was identified based on its history of mine abandonment. We found that reporting on mainstream environmental and financial matters, co...

Progress towards deep sea mining (DSM) is driven by projected demands for metals and the desire for economic development. DSM remains controversial, with some political leaders calling for a moratorium on DSM pending further research into its impacts. This paper highlights the need for governance architectures that are tailored to DSM. We conceptua...

Environmental, social and governance pressures should feature in future scenario planning about the transition to a low carbon future. As low-carbon energy technologies advance, markets are driving demand for energy transition metals. Increased extraction rates will augment the stress placed on people and the environment in extractive locations. To...

In this article, we critically analyse emerging regulatory controls around the design and management of tailings facilities in the global mining industry. Following several high profile, catastrophic tailings facility failures, a Global Tailings Review (GTR) was established to develop a new industry Standard. We describe the precursors to the GTR a...

Against a vast backdrop of regulation, and increasingly strong calls for industry change, major social and environmental incidents in mining continue to occur. There is resistance among major companies to the idea that restructuring their organisations will have any positive effect on their social performance. Our interest is in whether the structu...

Debates about safeguarding the rights of people displaced by mining focus on three levels of governance. The first is the international system of sustainability polices and performance standards preferred by lenders such as the World Bank and the IFC. The second is the commitments and enacted performance of mining corporations. The third is the cou...

Unprecedented numbers of Indigenous peoples in Canada and Australia are working in the mining industry. This study explores the proposition that Indigenous mining employment is a form of local development for these peoples. We establish links between the literatures on Indigenous work in the mining industry with development theory. For employment t...

The Covid-19 pandemic is reshaping the world economy. Headline news stories depict mining companies as a stabilising force: supporting the flow of resources to keep the economy moving, and contributing to local welfare initiatives for communities in crisis. We argue that this narrative masks important details about the local conditions where mining...

The global mining industry produces billions of tonnes of mine tailings each year. This slurry of waste material is often contained in dams, which are among some of the world’s largest engineered structures. Several recent and catastrophic tailings dam disasters bring the complex interaction between a mine and its local operating context into plain...

Rising consumer demand is driving concerns around the ‘availability’ and ‘criticality’ of metals. Methodologies have emerged to assess the risks related to global metal supply. None have specifically examined the initial supply source – the mine site where primary ore is extracted. Environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) risks are critical to...

There are many scenarios that can develop when the large and small-scale mining sectors form an interface. This paper focuses on the complexities of large-scale and artisanal and small-scale mining (“LSM” and “ASM”) operating within a shared physical environment. The term “interface” is used to characterize the many points at which LSM and ASM phys...

The global mining sector, like other sectors of industrialised economies, is undergoing a technological transformation as part of what some commentators refer to as the ‘fourth industrial revolution’. New technologies, such as automation and robotics, are transforming the nature of mining and the nature of work. This paper discusses the implication...

The absence of legal criteria to support the responsible closure of large-scale mines is a significant global issue. Mine closure regulation primarily focuses on the physical aspects of mining, with limited attention paid to social aspects of mine closure. This paper examines the extent to which regulatory instruments across three major Australian...

Characterising the spatial and temporal dimensions of resource development projects is critical for understanding their present and future risk and opportunity profiles. For mining projects, pre-existing land uses, such as agriculture or human settlements, create spatial constraints that drive trade-offs between the development and operation of a m...

Spatially integrated social science is a broad term used to describe the integration of space and place in social science research using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). It includes qualitative GIS approaches, such as geo-ethnology and geo-narratives, which combine qualitative social data with GIS and represent an emerging approach with signif...

The supply of copper underpins global economic growth and human development. Forecasts predict a market deficit of 600 kilotones of copper metal by 2021. Accessing new and undeveloped copper orebodies is critical to meeting projected demand. The mining industry has historically addressed supply challenges by capitalising on rising metal prices. We...

Advances in computing, robotics, artificial intelligence, communications, materials, and interactive technologies are disrupting the business–society interface in almost all sectors. The mining industry is projecting an overwhelmingly positive narrative about the new technologies it is investing in and is eager to promote their economic benefits. W...

The social function in mining is in a state of decline. Recent changes among the world's major mining companies suggest that corporations are responding to the dual pressure of profit maximization and sustainable development by cutting back on the social function of their business. Our approach draws on two conceptual platforms to describe and anal...

Few jurisdictions have translated internationally agreed social impact assessment (SIA) principles into statutory provisions. Governments and regulatory bodies tend to provide developers with high-level frameworks, or require that social impacts be ‘considered’, without specifying how this is to be done. In Australia, this lack of clarity leaves al...

This study establishes new knowledge about country-level mining industry associations with respect to sustainable development. Industry associations present an opportunity for diffusion of leading practice norms and standards in this arena. We examined the emergence of mining industry associations, their public statements about sustainability, and...

Extractive Relations explores the nature of industrial power and its role in shaping what we understand to be the global mining sector. The authors examine issues at the forefront of contemporary debates: corporate obligations in safeguarding the rights of people displaced by mining, the recognition of community rights and interests in supporting o...

This chapter focuses on contemporary debates about mining, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and development. The authors engage the question of how observers are to interpret the intentions and actions of a mining operation relative to its development impact. The authors draw on fieldwork data collected through a commissioned review of a commu...

This article examines the social management capability (SMC) of the global mining industry to identify, understand and manage complex social and environmental issues, such as human migration. Our contribution is based on the analysis and interpretation of two sets of qualitative data: (i) existing literature on SMCs and its relevance to demographic...

The primary aim of the report is to understand the mechanisms and instruments that governments are using to manage resettlement risks in the mining sector. Key findings show that the existing international standards have been unevenly incorporated into national frameworks.The study authors compare legally binding instruments related to mining induc...

This article presents the results of a global study on resettlement practice in the mining industry. We examine how international policy commitments are operationalised by the mining sector and how practitioners from across the institutional spectrum engage with planning and implementation efforts by the industry. Interviews were conducted with 52...

In-migration associated with economic opportunity, or project-induced in-migration, is a common phenomenon. This same phenomenon can also negatively affect the project area and host communities, especially with regards to environmental, social and health issues. These negative effects can in turn create social and business risks that jeopardise ope...

div class="title">Corporate Readiness and the Human Rights Risks of Applying FPIC in the Global Mining Industry - Deanna KEMP, John R OWEN

This article examines the application of social risk in the global mining industry. The current approach to social risk conflates risk to people and risk to projects. We argue that differentiation is needed to determine the respective attributes of both risk types and to understand how and where they interact. Establishing a clear understanding abo...

In 2013, in the first issue of Extractive Industries and Society, Bruce Harvey authored an article that outlined how the mining industry could make headway in social performance by prioritising “in-reach” strategies. We review this approach and argue that a more open frame of analysis and dialogue is required if the industry is to meet its stated s...

Across Southeast Asia, there are a range of complex human rights-related issues associated with resource extraction, including, regulatory architecture, institutional capacity, corruption, political freedoms, use of security forces, involuntary land acquisition and resettlement. At this stage, little is known about the degree to which these and oth...

This article explores whether a more responsible form of planning can be applied to resettlement in mining. The authors focus initially on existing international safeguard policies and performance standards. Embedded in these institutional mechanisms is an assumption that when key elements of a displacement are known, the timing, nature and intensi...

Studies of displacement and resettlement associated with mining operations continue to demonstrate consistently high levels of impoverishment among displaced people, and that knowledge-building and management practices within the mining industry to uphold international standards are weak. The implications of this are far reaching. Host and settleme...

In mining and resettlement practice, one critical oversight is the conceptualisation of households in the formulation of livelihood reconstruction initiatives. While households have received considerable attention in development studies, principally in relation to sustainable livelihood activities, the substance of this research continues to evade...

Part discussion, part handbook, this document aims to bridge the gap between the current understanding of the impact of mining on Mongolian herder communities, in particular the different impacts on women, men and their traditional livelihoods. It explores the interactions between herding and mining in Mongolia; the current and future socio-economi...

Company–community agreements are widely considered to be a practical mechanism for recognising the rights, needs and priorities of peoples impacted by mining, for managing impacts and ensuring that mining-derived benefits are shared. The use and application of company–community agreements is increasing globally. Notwithstanding the utility of these...

׳Free prior and informed consent׳ (FPIC) has emerged as an influential theme in contemporary debates about mining and development. This paper considers the social knowledge base required to actualize the notion of FPIC in particular mining contexts. FPIC introduces heightened social performance requirements at a time where many mining companies are...

Significance In this report we investigate company–community conflict and its role in the regulation of sustainability performance in the extractive industries. We estimate the cost of conflict to companies and identify conflict as an important means through which environmental and social risks are translated into business costs and decision-making...

Physical displacement, relocation and resettlement are widely acknowledged as posing enormous social risk. For over four decades, scholars, campaigners and project-affected people have sought to highlight the effects of development-induced displacement and resettlement (DIDR). Increasingly, the generic set of international standards that are used t...

Over the past two decades the global mining industry has witnessed the necessity and emergence of community relations and development (CRD) functions, essentially under the rubric of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility (CSR). These functions provide companies with mechanisms through which to engage and manage their relations...

Historically, impact assessment practice has not explicitly considered human rights. That human rights are relevant to business has been confirmed through the United Nations Human Rights Council's endorsement of the ‘Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights’. Special Representative to the Secretary-General on business and human rights, Profe...

In 2002 the International Institute of Environment and Development published the landmark report Breaking New Ground: Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD). The report portrayed an industry distrusted by stakeholders and under threat from opposition groups. When read closely, the MMSD report reveals an inextricable link between indust...

The community mining space remains contested for a range of complex reasons. This inherently difficult discursive space is made most apparent in the context of international development where mining is often viewed as a potential lever in the effort to lift poorer nations out of poverty. In this article, the authors offer a critical review of commu...

This article engages internal organizational aspects of ‘accountability’ for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in mining by challenging the current ‘audit culture’. Audits offer a tool through which to shape and regulate corporate social performance (CSP). Where audits have limited value is in their ability to stimulate internal engagement arou...

The past decade has seen a growing capacity in Community Relations (CR) within the minerals industry. The emphasis has been on improving the skills and abilities of CR practitioners to work more effectively with impacted communities. Nevertheless, there is increasing awareness that effective community engagement and development requires skills and...

This research engages with the problem of company–community conflict in mining. The inequitable distributions of risks, impacts, and benefits are key drivers of resource conflicts and are likely to remain at the forefront of mining-related research and advocacy. Procedural and interactional forms of justice therefore lie at the very heart of some o...

There is growing acceptance within the mining industry that to maintain its social licence to operate it must systematically consider the human rights dimensions of its impacts. As the nature of decision making in mining is becoming more complex, particularly in relation to social dimensions, many companies are incorporating human rights commitment...

The minerals industry interacts with water in many different ways that can affect the environment and communities. In the context of emerging debates about the status of access to water as a distinct human right and the mining industry’s engagement with human rights discourses, this article highlights points of disconnection between technical, scie...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how discourse used as a strategic resource can facilitate change in gender and corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy and practice in a global mining company. Design/methodology/approach – An existing model of discourse and organizational change was applied to illuminate the contours of a par...

This article examines local-level community development (CD) facilitated by the mining industry. It moves beyond polarized debates that pit CD in mining as either a front for public relations or a genuine attempt to facilitate development in order to build understanding and critical awareness of problems and possibilities of local-level CD practice...

This article focuses on community relations in the mining industry, within the context of sustainable development, social responsibility and stakeholder engagement. Community relations is conceptualized as a three-dimensional practice that involves: working for the company to understand local community perspectives; bridging community and company p...

A significant body of literature exists about the effects and impacts of mining on local communities. Less well understood are the internal dynamics and decision pathways within companies for handling grievances and disputes. As a first step towards addressing this knowledge gap, the Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining (CSRM) and the Corpora...

As part of a broader commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainable development, major minerals companies are developing and implementing a management systems approach to community relations. While the application of management systems to community relations represents an advance over more traditional approaches to dealing with commu...