Preconditions for social licence: The importance of information in initial engagement

Building on the knowledge that procedural fairness of and trust in mining companies, as well as confidence in governance, are key determinants of social licence to operate (SLO), the present research aims to examine how these preconditions of SLO are affected by the terms of engagement set out in initial letters sent to residents. Through an experimental study, quasi-experimental methodology was employed with four experimental conditions, where participants read an initial letter introducing a hypothetical mining proposal issued by a fictitious mining company (Nortor Mining Corporation – NMC) and then answered a number of questions regarding procedural fairness of and trust in NMC, as well as confidence in its governance. Condition 1 (i.e. a basic overview of the project) was modelled on a notice from a real mining company outlining opportunities for community engagement. Conditions 2 (Condition 1 plus commitment to engage), 3 (Condition 2 plus adherence to government requirements), and 4 (Condition 3 plus community's opportunity to contribute) were established through systematically and accumulatively adding information on NMC's detailed community engagement plan, the government assessment process, and opportunities for community involvement. The findings suggest that Condition 3 and Condition 4 resulted in higher scores for all three preconditions of SLO. The results demonstrate that the information presented in an initial community engagement letter can significantly influence community members’ attitudes toward a proposed mining development, highlighting the importance of mining companies having concrete community engagement plans in place and demonstrating strong commitment to regulatory requirements right at the beginning.