Last spring, migratory caribou returned to a part of Rio Tinto’s Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories that the animals had previously had trouble accessing. As part of its progressive reclamation, the North Country Rock Pile was re-sloped into a shape similar to an esker, a notable landscape feature in the area; the pile’s gentle shape made it easier for caribou to navigate.

It was the recommendation of Diavik’s traditional knowledge panel, a group of representatives from each of the Indigenous communities with whom the company has participation agreements in the Lac de Gras area where the mine is located. The panel has met 15 times since 2011 and made more than 250 recommendations that have informed the company’s closure planning. Once the site ceases operations next year, the panel will transition to a post-closure traditional knowledge monitoring program.

“The focus will shift from informing our designs and our approach to post-closure monitoring, and how we’re meeting our cultural use objectives as part of our closure performance,” said Gord Stephenson, Diavik’s senior manager of surface operations and closure, in an interview with CIM Magazine.

Diavik’s traditional knowledge panel features in a new ICMM handbook, released in May, aimed at helping mining companies, communities and stakeholders plan for closure and the post-mining socio-economic transition.

Mining companies have long been seen as responsible for leading all aspects of closure, including communities’ socio-economic transitions. However, the handbook promotes a shift from company-led transition models towards multistakeholder ones that give local communities, governments, Indigenous groups and civil society far more say in their post-mining future and see miners take non-central roles such as conveners, financiers or capacity-builders.

“You can equally find examples of where mining projects have changed the lives of communities for the better and of where that hasn’t been the case—or maybe it’s been the case for the duration of the project, but afterwards that benefit has either not been sustained or has actually resulted in a worsened situation for communities,” said Danielle Martin, ICMM’s co-chief operating officer and director of social performance.

Martin noted that particularly for rural and remote communities, mining projects have often enabled the development of, or greater access to, telecommunications, utilities, health care, schools and community-wide wealth creation. However, when transitions fail, former mining towns are left with social, economic and environmental scars.

Multistakeholder transition approaches offer several benefits, the handbook states, including greater clarity for communities about future changes in mining activity and their implications, better decision making, and giving stakeholders who “will live with post-mining legacies” more of a voice in the process.

The handbook is part of ICMM’s ongoing community resilience program, which delves into the skills and capabilities communities and other stakeholders need in order to ensure that they reserve lasting benefits from mining. Martin said that ICMM heard overwhelmingly from members that they wanted to see a focus on transitions, given the lack of existing research, case studies or guidance on the topic.

“It’s complex. It takes a long-time horizon and requires the input of a lot of actors and fundamentally needs mining companies to step out of the middle of the circle, where they’re in control of something,” Martin said.

ICMM formed expert working groups of member companies and partnered with the Cooperative Research Centre for Transformations in Mining Economies in Australia.

The handbook presents nine multi-stakeholder models for socio-economic transitions. The models include more traditional and smaller-scale collaborative efforts such as mine closure consultative groups and monitoring committees. It also includes innovative approaches such as land and asset trusts that miners either set up or donate reclaimed mine lands to, or post-mining joint ventures, such as Teck Resources’ SunMine solar farm on the former Sullivan mine site in Kimberley, B.C., which ceased operations in 2001.

The report also highlighted regeneration or development coalitions, collaborative regional planning processes and social investment transition foundations as other potential partnership models.

While Martin said that ICMM had hoped to come up with something of a “recipe book” for successful socio-economic transitions, she noted that a range of context-specific factors—such as a community’s physical proximity to, and level of economic dependence on, the mine, whether workers are predominantly locals or fly-in-fly-out, the existence of a diversified local economy—will all influence what an ideal transition looks like.

The report said communities that experience socio-economic success post-mining do have a few things in common, including a clear vision for their future, an ability to harness place-specific aspects such as natural landscapes or infrastructure to their benefit, and support from external parties.

Having enough time and information to prepare in advance was also a crucial factor. The guidance recommends companies begin transition planning as early as possible and proactively share more information with stakeholders than they have typically done in the past.

“These processes do take time, but as long as the process is initiated early enough, there’s a lot of value to be gained,” said Stephenson. “Mining can’t happen in isolation. Recognizing that mining does have an end and having that early engagement allows time for different perspectives to be heard and incorporated into the outcome.”

While the handbook acknowledged some mines are in operation for decades and it is difficult to plan that far ahead, Martin said it is possible to do some initial “visioning” in the early stages and slowly add more “flesh on the bones” as the years pass.

While Martin said multistakeholder approaches were more likely to lead to successful transitions, she noted they are also far more complex.

The handbook pointed out that these approaches can be hamstrung if stakeholders are not afforded enough time or given enough information in advance, as well as by any existing trust issues or conflict among local stakeholders that makes them unwilling to participate. Mining companies themselves may struggle with their lack of control over the planning process. The report also pointed out that declining resourcing levels towards the end of a mine’s life, and employee turnover during that time, can create additional challenges.

Tara Marchiori, Diavik’s manager of communities and social performance, noted one challenge that the company worked through was ensuring that the right community representatives, with the right level of expertise and community support, were at the table, and that there was continuity in community participation.

At Diavik, Stephenson said that the panel’s recommendations influenced how the company plans to reconnect the mine operations to Lac de Gras, revegetation plans and waste rock pile design. The multistakeholder approach, he said, “really creates a sense of ownership with communities as well, because they had an integral part in developing the plan.”