31 March 2025
Mining multi-nationals need to gain trust of communities impacted by critical mineral extraction
As the race to secure rare earths and other critical minerals heats up, whether communities impacted by mining are getting a fair deal has again been called into question.
New research led from King’s has looked at the factors that build and shape trust in mining companies, and local or national governments, using data from Ghana and Australia.
Ghana has a rich supply of minerals such as lithium, whilst Australian companies are major players in the international mining industry.
The authors say the policy implications of this issue of trust comes at a crucial time, as the critical minerals industry comes under fire for re-colonising and greenwashing the Global South.
Lead author Dr Clement Sefa-Nyarko from the African Leadership Centre said there are four key predictors of trust in affected communities.
He said: “These are satisfaction, participation, social cohesion built on shared experiences, and an adequate social and economic independence.”
The paper published in Resources Policy shows that whilst trust building between companies and communities happens at the sub-national level, this can also be substantially influenced by transnational, bi-lateral, and multi-lateral relationships and frameworks.
As a result, government regulations and policy can be used to promote trust in ways that are applicable to both developed and developing countries, he added.
“Based on these agreements and the good will being built up by Australian companies in lithium mining communities in Ghana, Australia can play a role as a leader in Africa through the behaviour of its mining companies.
“Australian companies can ensure that extraction of critical minerals is not repeating or making worse the same social and environmental problems already experienced by Ghana’s other mining communities.”
Potential opportunities for policy reforms to facilitate greater trust are evident, says Dr Sefa-Nyarko.
These include explicit legislation by home countries of mining companies to enforce data protection, privacy, and gender and diversity board composition and corporate culture in an overseas corporate context.
“Host governments equally have an important role in facilitating trust through ESG standards. Multinational mining companies will comply with them if they are required to do so.
“They will complement these with their voluntary ESG and mandatory international and home-country standards where applicable.”
The research also involved Australian-based researchers from the University of Canberra, University of Queensland, and La Trobe University.
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Lecturer in Security, Development and Leadership in Africa