{"id":3144,"date":"2023-01-23T09:53:08","date_gmt":"2023-01-23T12:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.molteniconsulting.com\/?p=3144"},"modified":"2023-01-23T11:00:19","modified_gmt":"2023-01-23T14:00:19","slug":"mining-and-sustainability-a-social-responsibility-case-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.molteniconsulting.com\/en\/mining-and-sustainability-a-social-responsibility-case-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Mining and sustainability \u2013 A social responsibility case study"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Introduction<\/h2>\n
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In the 1990s, Pirquitas and Santo Domingo were forgotten rural communities in the province of Jujuy, Argentina. The population of the area \u2013 mostly indigenous \u2013 lived from the pastoral farming of sheep, vicu\u00f1as, llamas, and goats, to agriculture, and handicraft production.<\/span><\/p>\n

But in the salt deserts of the Puna, in the northwest region of the country, a great treasure was hidden. Minerals such as silver, zinc, and lithium attracted the attention of large mining companies around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

Silver Standard Resources Inc<\/span><\/a>, a Canadian mining company, began its activities at the Pirquitas mine in 2009, employing more than 800 people in tasks related to the extraction and processing of the resources obtained.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2016, given the imminent exhaustion of the mine, the company began mining in Chinchillas, 43 km from Pirquitas and 5 km from Santo Domingo. In order to minimize the impact that the closure of the first mine represented on local workers, SSR Mining continued exploring and in 2018 began to reuse the mineral processing plant in Pirquitas.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Pirquitas’s resources are nearing their end. The projected lifecycle of the mine goes from 2018 to 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

How will the local population survive after the mine closes?<\/span><\/p>\n

SSR Mining knows that a business has a responsibility to the community in which it is inserted. This is why the company has already begun planning a project for a post-mining legacy.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Due to our experience accompanying improvement and transformation projects, we were consulted to provide methodological support to help structure the closure process.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The problem<\/h2>\n
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Before we came across this project, an experienced Social Responsibility advisor \u2013 Empoderar RS \u2013 had been consulted by SSR Mining. The result was a detailed report on how the company impacts and relates to the community.<\/span><\/p>\n

This analysis, based on in-depth interviews and focus groups, revealed the existence of the following problems:<\/span><\/p>\n

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