PDAC Short Course Delivers a Practical Approach to Applying CSR

A practical short course on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been developed by the PDAC and will be presented by a group of recognized experts in the field on the Friday and Saturday immediately preceding the PDAC convention. The course had been specifically designed for exploration teams.

In today’s world of mineral exploration and development the “above ground” issues have become at least equal if not more important and complex as the ones we normally encounter below ground. Often times the so-called soft issues are the ones that are holding up project approval or even preventing access to land to initiate exploration. Exploration and mining companies are now expected to engage in CSR, which has now become a priority of governments, non-government organizations and the general public. CSR may be defined as the way companies integrate social (including human rights), environmental and economic concerns into their values, culture, decision-making, strategy and operations in a transparent and accountable manner and thereby establish better practices, create wealth and improve society. Key challenges at this point in time include the fact that best practice management systems for applying CSR, while available, are not broadly accessible and there are no internationally recognized CSR standards against which a company can benchmark its efforts.

The PDAC has identified CSR as a top priority for the exploration sector and has developed the short course in co-operation with CSR consultants, explorationists and industry experts. The course will focus on a) delivering a field-tested management framework for applying CSR, b) case histories, outlining the challenges Canadian companies have encountered in applying CSR and c) interactive sessions whereby course participants can exchange views and engineer improvements.

Course presenters will include a combination of experts from On Common Ground, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), and Economic Development Canada (EDC). Case histories to be presented include the Anvil Mining Dikulushi project, DRC; De Beers Canada, Victor project, Canada; Corriente Resources projects in Ecuador; the Esquel Project, Argentina;Gabriel Resources, Rosia Montana project, Romania and Tiberon Minerals, Nui Phao project, Vietnam.

The PDAC strongly encourages exploration personnel from both junior and senior companies to participate in the course and contribute your experience, expertise and ideas to the discussions.