Mining and Mining Policy in the Pacific: History, Challenges and Perspectives CONSERVATION INTERNATION PAPER Title: Mining and nature in New Caledonia By Conrad Savy, Mahlette Betre, Jean‐Christophe LEFEUVRE Abstract The mining industry continues to expand, driven by growing global demand for minerals, rising commodity prices and rapidly changing technologies, economies and regulations. The focus of much of this expansion has been into remote and biodiversity rich areas. The mining sector therefore represents both a risk and opportunity for conservation and for engagement by CI. While mining activities do have the potential to harm biodiversity and ecosystem services both directly and indirectly, CI has always held a vision that mining companies can be a force for conservation through integrating biodiversity into companies’ business practices to reduce their ecological footprint and make strategic conservation investments in areas important for biodiversity and ecosystem services. CI has been collaborating with the mining sector for over a decade, developing best practice guidelines and decision support tools as well as engaging directly with mining companies and those organizations that can influence their practices, such as the International Finance Corporation. In this presentation we will highlight why mining companies should be incorporating biodiversity and ecosystem services considerations into their business decisions, and outline the strategy CI has employed to drive best practices within the industry, highlighting specific case study and partnership examples. What is the role of mining in the global economy? Despite the recent global financial crisis, the mining sector continues to be a leading industry with net profit up 156% to $110 billion, and revenue breaking $400 billion for the first time, for the top 40 companies in 2010 (PWC, 2011). It is projected that this trend will only increase, attributed to , rising commodity prices, rapidly changing technologies, economies and regulations and the growing demand for resources predominantly from emerging economies – China, India, Indonesia and Brazil. Supply for these resources, however, is increasingly constrained, as development projects become more complex and expand into developing nations and more remote regions (PWC, 2010). It is many of these same regions that scientists have identified as priorities for biodiversity conservation (ICMM, 2010). While this expansion can bring tremendous economic opportunities for international companies and national economies, it may also present significant ecological and cultural threats if it is not developed in a responsible way (CI, 2000). What are the linkages between mining and nature and why is this link important for the sector? Mining has the potential to affect nature – biodiversity and ecosystem services, throughout the life cycle of a project, from exploration to closure. Examples of negative direct effects include: • clearing of native vegetation leading not only to direct losses but also to fragmentation of habitat from activities such as access road construction or exploration drilling; • contamination or pollution of air, water and soils from tailings (waste) disposal or smelter emissions; • rainfall runoff from disturbed land leading to soil erosion, turbidity, siltation or pollution of local streams; • introduction or spread of invasive species, pests and diseases of native flora and fauna; • changes in groundwater levels through mine de‐watering; and • exposure of acid generating rock or subsoil that can lead to contamination of waterways with acid and metals (IUCN & ICMM, 2004; ICMM, 2006). Page 1 of 11 Indirect impacts, which are more difficult to identify, can result from social or environmental changes induced by mining operations. These often involve interactions between the mining operations, its workforce and local communities. Examples of these impacts relate to opening up access to remote regions to migration and settlement which can lead to increased pressure on local natural resources (IUCN & ICMM, 2004) or changes to local social structures. Mining activities not only affect the natural environment but also depend on biodiversity and the services provided by ecosystems as key inputs to products and production processes. Freshwater, for example, is a necessary input for mineral processing (TEEB, 2010). Despite the significant potential for negative impacts on ecosystems from mining operations, there is a great deal that companies can do to minimize or prevent these impacts. There are also many opportunities for companies to contribute positively biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in and around areas of operations and understand their dependence. Increasingly more mining companies are recognizing biodiversity as a key Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issue and have developed voluntary programs and commitments towards biodiversity and ecosystem conservation (i.e. Rio Tinto, Newmont Mining, BHP Billiton, Anglo American). Many are identifying business reasons to institute these initiatives and commitments such as maintaining access to: land, sea and related natural resources (directly or through supply chains); legal and social license to operate; capital and insurance; markets for products (old and new); human capital; a seat at policy development dialogues (Rio Tinto, 2008). The importance of mining in New Caledonia History/ Discovery and initial mining New Caledonia has the longest history of mining in the Pacific islands, with major mine sites for nickel, cobalt, iron, and chrome. A mysterious green mineral had first been discovered by mining engineer Jules Garnier at Dumbéa and la Coulée in 1864. He took samples to France at the end of his mission. This was Jannetaz (mineralogist at the Paris Museum d'histoire naturelle) who found that this mineral is a nickel silicate. His American colleague Dana gave it the name "garnierite" in 1873. Copper and nickel mining began in 1872 and 1874 and cobalt in 1876. At first, mines were small, with individuals gathering the rich minerals with pick and shovel. Convicts from the prison camps were used to expand mining activities. The first nickel mines were about extracting the green mineral which occurred in small veins. To follow them, mining had often to go underground. The ore was the almost pure green mineral with grades between 15 and 20% in nickel content. Towards 1879 miners found that other surrounding rocks were also rich in nickel with very rich ores such as the brown "chocolat" or "brûlé" (burnt), or "bouchon" (cork) ores. Consequently nickel ore was occurring in much larger bodies which could then be entirely mined in quarries where grades initially close to 10% in Ni have progressively declined to the current 2.45%. The first large mines began around the turn of the century in Bourail and Thio. By 1907 large scale chrome mines were developed in Baie de Prony, followed by still larger iron and nickel mines. Prospectors, in their search for ore, began by burning the vegetation away to give them better access to the countryside. The locomotives transporting the ore burned wood and sparks caused many fires along the tracks. The fires eventually caused such widespread environmental damage to the flora and fauna of southern New Caledonia that the impact is still evident. The prospectors built dirt roads everywhere on the mountain sides, first for prospecting and later for mining traffic. These roads still exist and are often used by four‐wheel drive vehicles for recreation and access to remote regions. Page 2 of 11 Nickel is strip mined in New Caledonia, and over 500 million tonnes of overlying material were stripped away to access the ore. In some areas the ore layer is thin, so the mines are very extensive, sometimes covering whole mountains. The average area cleared is about 20 hectares per million tons of ore produced. Five million tonnes of ore per year result in 25 million tonnes of tailings. The mines of Thio, for example, produced 20 million tonnes of ore and produced 100 million tons (40 million cubic meters) of tailing. What are the major minerals? A nickel country where there is more than nickel New Caledonia is known for the importance of its nickel resource, but before discovering and exploiting this metal, gold was found as early as 1863 and soon after copper was found and mined in the Diahot valley. From the beginning of the colony, prospectors and gold diggers have been looking for gold and other metals. The Grande Terre is an almost empty mountainous country with rain forests and shrubs hard to walk in. No mineralized outcrop has escaped their prospecting. Many chromite mines were worked and particularly the Tiebaghi mine which has been, in its time, one of the world's richest. Cobalt was mined and will be exploited again. Pioneers and miners have also mined coal, iron and manganese. They have even searched for oil. Fortunes were made and lost. Generations of New Caledonian people have dreamt about mines and their dream still goes on. Many inhabitants of the "bush" have been, or are still, working in mines. Many have prospected for others or themselves. Families still pass over mining leases to their heirs . Who has not a parent working on a nickel mine ("sur mines") or at the Noumea nickel smelting plant ("au nickel" ‐ SLN, the only smelting company)? Today, companies are still exploring for gold, chromite, platinum and, again, for oil and mining is a strong feature of the culture of New Caledonians. Gold Gold was first found in 1863 in the North at Pouébo, but the main discovery was in Fern Hill near Ouégoa in 1870. This gold deposit was mined from 1873 until 1900 and produced 212 kg of gold. Other gold prospects have not met the expectations; Galarino from 1877 to 1879 (where was extracted the largest gold nugget ever found in New Caledonia. ‐ 40g), the "Grosses gouttes" near St. Louis (in the South) , 'Queyras" (La Foa), "Edison" (Pouembout), "Honfleur" (¨Poya). Gold occurs also at Nakéty and in other places but again in too small and uneconomical concentrations. Copper, lead and silver Copper was found initially in the North (Diahot valley) near Ouegoa in 1872 by four prospectors English and French. The mining lease was named "Balade". In the same small valley of the Balade creek, two other copper mines "Bruat' and "Murat" were subsequently discovered. In 1864 ‐ 1865 other discoveries followed up in the lower Diahot valley and particularly the "Pilou ‐Nemou" copper mine, "Mérétrice" (lead‐silver) and many other prospects. In Nehoué valley, the "Ao" mine, famous for its azurite minerals, was discovered in 1887. Mining was done mostly in Balade, Bruat, Pilou‐Nemou and Mérétrice. Smelting plants were built at Pam, Dilah and Tao. It is a tumultuous history which starts in 1873 and ends with the bankruptcy of the "Société Minière du Diahot" in 1931. This history is marked, until 1904, by the prominent personality of John Higginson who made a fortune in his mines despite some setbacks. Production totaled 6 000 tonnes of copper in Balade, Bruat, Murat and 200 tonnes of copper mattes in Pilou. Page 3 of 11 Chromium As early as 1884 chromite ore was mined in Mont Dore (South) and Nakéty (East Coast). The Tiébaghi (North of Koumac) deposit was found in 1877. Mining started in 1902, initially in an open pit until 1926, then as an underground mine. Mining was ended in 1963. It resumed in 1980 and ended again in 1990 the deposit being exhausted. Overall Tiébaghi has produced 3,3 million tonnes of very rich lumpy chromite (it reached 54% in Cr2O3). Other deposits, albeit smaller, were discovered and mined in the same ultrabasic massif of Tiébaghi which is particularly chromite rich They are named Chagrin, Fantoche, Vieille Montagne and Bellacoscia. There also many small chromite deposits in the large southern ultrabasic massif of New Caledonia. Many were mined. They are Marais Kiki, Georges Pile, Alice‐Louise, la Madeleine, etc. In the "rivière des Pirogues" valley, large chromite bearing limonite deposits are known and were prospected by BRGM in 1962 and 1975. Another prospecting was carried out in 2000‐2002. The resource is large and chromite quality sufficient for sales, but chromite grades would not enable a viable exploitation under current chromite market conditions. Who are the major companies? Where do they operate ? Extraction and processing of nickel ore remain its chief economic assets and one of the corner stones for further development. Part of the nickel ore is processed by the "Société Le Nickel" (SLN), a French company which smelts half of the 7 million tonnes of ore extracted from New Caledonian mines each year, producing 60,000 tonnes of metal. The territory is already the world’s third‐largest producer of nickel, which is mainly used in stainless steel. A high world nickel price, driven by demand from China and India, created a ‘nickel boom’ in the local economy over the past five years. Much of this momentum was provided by the US$3.2 billion Goro Nickel project in the south of the main island, which is now on the point of completion. Driven, in its latter stages at least, by Brazil’s Vale, the project is scheduled to have a nominal capacity to produce some 60,000 tonnes of nickel and 4500 tonnes of cobalt by 2012. Another major project, at Koniambo in the Northern Province of New Caledonia, has already begun construction, while SLN has invested more than US$400 million in New Caledonia over the past five years, most recently spending US$160 million on a new nickel ore‐enriching plant in Tiébaghi, in the North‐West of the main island. Its goal is to increase its annual production capacity to 75,000 tonnes. Meanwhile the Northern Province’s mining company SMSP has just inaugurated a processing plant in South Korea that will guarantee its mining activity for three decades. New Caledonia has also finalised a new mining masterplan, which provides a blueprint for new mining development in the territory and regulates every aspect of mining activity. Other mineral resources existing in New Caledonia include chromium, cobalt, platinoids, and possibly hydrocarbons. Conduct of mining activities called for construction of extensive infrastructures, which means that New Caledonia today possesses the high‐grade facilities that are needed for balanced economic development. Page 4 of 11 Metals and mining companies in New Caledonia are essentially oriented towards the production of nickel, anb they fall into several categories: ‐ Companies metallurgical The‐SLN (belongs to the group Eramet), which deals in its foundry Doniambo (Noumea) ore garnierites operated in its mining centers. The production capacity of its nickel pyrometallurgical plant is 60.000t per year. It currently represents more than 2,300 direct jobs. The NC Vale, the Brazilian subsidiary of VALE (first world producer of nickel), has in the region of Goro (Great South), a pilot plant for the hydrometallurgical treatment of laterite ores (limonite) of the deposit located nearby. The plant of the Deep South has set a priority control of the hydrometallurgical process and its impact on security and the environment. It should reach in 2013, its annual nominal production of 60 000 tonnes of nickel and 4,500 tonnes of cobalt. Established near Koné, the county town of New Caledonia's North Province, Koniambo Nickel SAS is presently building a world‐class industrial complex which will contribute to making New Caledonia one of the world's largest nickel producers once production reaches full capacity. Thanks to its yet unexploited nickel deposit that is deemed to be one of the most important and of the best quality worldwide, the Company will maintain a long‐term, low‐cost operation that will comply with sustainable development principles. Once construction work is finished, Koniambo Nickel will operate a mine, a pyrometallurgical nickel foundry, a power‐generating station and other complementary infrastructures, notably a privately‐owned deep‐water port, an 11‐kilometre land‐
based conveyor and a seawater desalination plant. The beginning of ore treatment is planned for the second quarter of 2012 with a gradual increase in power to reach an annual production of 60,000 tonnes of nickel content in 2014. ‐ Producers and exporters of lateritic ore or garnierites SLN, Vale NC, Ballande group companies (SMT, Sté Mines Neou, etc..) SMSP group companies (NMC, Nouméa Nickel, etc..), George Montagnat Society (SMGM). They account for more than 2,000 direct jobs. ‐ Subcontractors Some provide both production and haulage of ore: SMGM, MKM, FROUIN, GEMINI, SOREN, RS, Sark, etc.. ‐ Service companies A number of service companies, such as geological research companies, drilling companies, companies specializing in environmental rehabilitation of mining sites, are also involved in the mining industry of New Caledonia. Page 5 of 11 How important is it to national economy? New Caledonia has about 25% of the world's known nickel resources. Only a small amount of the land is suitable for cultivation, and food accounts for about 20% of imports. In addition to nickel, substantial financial support from France ‐ equal to more than 15% of GDP ‐ and tourism are keys to the health of the economy. Substantial new investment in the nickel industry, combined with the recovery of global nickel prices, brightens the economic outlook for the next several years. Nickel (a key ingredient for stainless steel production) accounts for over 90% of New Caledonia’s export earnings. Behind Russia and Canada, it is the world's third largest producer of nickel, with an estimated one quarter of the world's nickel reserves. Chrome and cobalt are also mined commercially, and deposits of iron, copper and gold have been found. With expansion of nickel mining in both the Southern and Northern Provinces (at Goro and Koniambo respectively) by a range of private and publicly‐owned companies, the nickel industry will become even more important to New Caledonia's economy, significantly increasing its contribution to GDP, and generating further employment opportunities in the longer term. However, a significant drop in global nickel prices and a fall in demand from the North Asian economies between 2007–2009 saw rising unemployment. This price volatility resulted in some recognition of a need for economic diversification as a buffer against economic uncertainty. The combination of the two new nickel mining projects (the new Vale Inco mine at Goro is awaiting commissioning while the Koniambo project is expected to enter into production in 2012) and budgetary support from the French state will nevertheless insulate New Caledonia in the medium to long term from the worst effects of the global financial crisis. Although current economic growth is estimated well below earlier figures (2% in 2010 compared with a range of 5% ‐ 7% in the years before the downturn) because of lower nickel returns, the rest of the economy has continued to perform quite well. With the current return to higher prices for nickel, prospects are even better. The construction sector accounts for roughly 12% of GDP, employing 9.9% of the salaried population in 2010. Construction projects in the mining industry will continue to provide a platform for growth, and there is still a need for approximately 1000 new houses per year throughout the country. Manufacturing remains small scale and is largely focused on the transformation of foodstuffs, textiles and plastics. Exports (FOB) (2010): XPF 114 billlion (NZ$1.5 billion approx); Main Exports: Nickel and nickel products = 95% (NZMFAT (2011) Why is New Caledonia important for biodiversity and how does this relate to mining? New Caledonia is one of 34 recognized biodiversity hotspots (Mittermeier et al, 2004). The geological history also has 2 major consequences resulting from soil formation from parent rocks rich in the minerals deposited previously. Because of the resulting metalliferous soils, plants and animals had to adapt to a highly unusual environment with heavy concentrations of several metals (Whiting et al. 2004) and these concentrations of metals have led to intense mining activity since the late 19th century. Origins of most New Caledonia taxa cannot be detailed because inventories have not been conducted, but nearly 75% of the native flora is endemic to the island (Jaffre et al. 2004). And, as in the Galapagos Islands, reptiles dominate among vertebrates, with 85 species of lizards of which 83.5% are endemic (Pascal et al. 2006). Moreover, many New Caledonian endemics are known from only a few specimens, and their geographic ranges are limited to a few square kilometers; sometimes their ranges are much smaller (Bradford & Jaffre 2004). If the World Conservation Union criteria were applied to New Caledonia, the entire endemic flora of the heavy‐metal‐rich soils (over 2200 species) and the entire endemic fauna would be included on the Red List of Threatened and Endangered Species, solely on the basis of the restricted ranges of the species (Jaffre et al. 1998). Page 6 of 11 CI’s vision for engaging the mining sector: going beyond “do no harm” to being a good steward for nature Conservation International engages the mining industry and related stakeholders in government, finance and civil society, on a number of fronts intended to drive better practices by the sector. Since our first engagement in 2000, this engagement has spanned major financers, industry associations, government agencies, conservation practitioners and eleven of the world’s largest companies in South America, Africa and Asia‐Pacific. Over a decade of experiences, we have become immersed in the sector and our strategy for changing company practices has settled on three interlinked types of action: • incentives that drive commitments to good practice; • tools that facilitate implementation of good practice; and • projects that successfully demonstrate and test best practices on the ground. Incentives Incentives for good practice are critical to ensure companies, via internal decisions or external pressures, are aware of what good practice is and commit to achieving it. An important external incentive can be via conditional loans linked to safeguards that establish requirements for sustainability. Chief among these have been the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards. The IFC is the World Bank Group’s private sector lending arm and has established eight Performance Standards covering labour conditions, community health, indigenous rights, biodiversity and culture. These standards have had direct impacts via individual projects (e.g. Rio Tinto’s Simandou iron ore project) as well as indirectly via adoption of these standards by the 73 private sectors finance institutions forming part of the Equator Principles Finance Institutions (EPFI) and 47 European development finance institutions and export credit agencies from countries within the Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) (IFC, 2011a). Through these institutions, the Performance Standards have emerged as a driver for good behavior within the mining sector and others. Conservation International and partners (e.g. TNC, Birdlife International, IUCN and NatureServe) worked closely with the IFC during the recent update of the Performance Standards, particularly Performance Standard 6 on “Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources”, which will enter into force on January 1 2012 (IFC, 2011b). This effort focused on aligning PS6 with current conservation science and emerging international standards on defining critical habitats and species (e.g. IUCN, 2001, 2003, 2007); promoting commitments to no net loss of natural habitats and net gains by projects in critical habitats though adherence to the mitigation hierarchy and inclusion of biodiversity offsets as an option where appropriate; integrating the concept of ecosystems services across multiple performance standards; and use of external experts in reviewing proposed mitigation efforts and verifying their implementation in sensitive habitats (IFC, 2011b). National laws are another key incentive for company behavior at the project level, but are often neglected within broader efforts to support good mining practices in specific countries (CI, 2000). As national laws vary, Conservation International is now exploring ways to assess and address gaps between international best practices, such as Performance Standard 6 or leading national laws, and national regulation in key countries where CI is active. This will focus on raising awareness and developing practical working knowledge of these international standards among national practitioners in the public and private sectors, as well as civil society. Industry associations, such as the International Council for Mining and Metals (ICMM), also have a key role as external promoters of good practice by having their members identify and share examples of good practice within their sector (ICMM, 2010). While ICMM itself does not certify nor represent a specific standard; members have voluntarily identified a set of principles they will abide by, including avoidance of World Heritage Sites since 2003 (ICMM, 2003; ICMM, 2011). Conservation Page 7 of 11 International worked with ICMM and other partners to identify some of these principles and continues to engage via contribution of case studies to the ICMM peer group (ICMM, 2010). Internal incentives such as a company’s internal policy commitments are also valuable in setting benchmarks for peers and driving minimum levels of consistent good behavior, regardless of national legal framework strengths or weaknesses. Conservation International regularly engages leading companies to shape their internal policies and strategies in an effort to drive good behavior in individual projects and operations. The most successful of these has been via engagement with Rio Tinto leadership at the highest levels that resulted in the company publicly committing to a Net Positive Impact (NPI) in 2004 and now captured within its Biodiversity Strategy (Rio Tinto, 2008). Tools Incentives are an important first step on the road to good behavior but rely on appropriate tools, in the form of information, guidance or training to ensure their implementation. Conservation International and its partners have worked on a number of efforts to support better compliance with selected standards and achievement of specific commitments by the mining sector. These have taken the form of specific pieces of guidance, such CI’s earliest work on guidance for large‐scale mining “Lightening the Lode” (CI, 2000) to integrated tools for data‐sharing and guidance such as the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT) for business (IBAT, 2011). IBAT for Business was a direct response to stated business needs for better information for project assessment and planning, especially at the earliest stages of the project cycle when mitigation responses may have the highest benefits and lowest costs (IBAT, 2011, ICMM, 2010). In responding to this need, an alliance was formed between four leading conservation organizations: BirdLife International, Conservation International, IUCN and UNEP‐WCMC to facilitate access to accurate and up‐to‐date biodiversity information to support critical business decisions (IBAT, 2011). The IBAT partners worked closely with a set of companies to design a tool with and for corporate users to ensure maximum understanding, relevance and uptake by the private sector. At its core, IBAT is a central database for a set of globally recognized critical biodiversity information including key biodiversity areas, legally protected areas and the conservation status of over 40,000 species available via the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IBAT, 2011). Through an interactive mapping tool, decision‐makers are able to easily access and use this up‐to‐date information to identify biodiversity risks and opportunities within a project boundary. Exportable maps make it easy for users to quickly share biodiversity assessment results, while downloadable data sets enable your business to conduct additional in‐
house analysis. IBAT has been used by a number of companies in strategic assessments of the project portfolio e.g. De Beers use of IBAT during their Biodiversity Overlay Assessment in 2008 (ICMM, 2010). IBAT has also been customized for use by the International Finance Corporation and InterAmerican Development Banks (Stewart & Savy, 2011). These users have focused on project screening for high‐risk projects. IBAT for Business is intended as first rapid response to project development as an initial step in a broader assessment and is not intended to replace the established impact assessment process (Stewart & Savy, 2011). Throughout this use the tool continues to be refined and improved based on user feedback to ensure maximum utility to users. Projects Many NGOs, including Conservation International, have engaged in field projects with company partners in the mining sector (e.g. Smuts, 2010). Conservation International has relied strongly on specific projects as it tests and refines approaches to promoting good practice while also delivering measurable conservation impacts on the ground. These projects have also been useful learning experiences for the companies involved as they themselves test and share experiences with their own staff and peers. Conservation International has engaged Rio Tinto since 2002, working on projects in Guinea and Madagascar intended to demonstrate Net Positive Impact. This partnership was formed in the spirit of providing significant gains for biodiversity conservation, the communities that rely on resources within these regions. In Guinea, this focused on the Simandou iron ore in Page 8 of 11 Southeast Guinea. Given the potential for high biodiversity within their concessions, Rio Tinto entered into an agreement with CI to assess the region’s biodiversity and the existing and potential socio‐economic threats to and opportunities for conservation, and to develop a biodiversity action plan. In 2002 a terrestrial biological survey, conducted in partnership with CI's Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) and West Africa program, examined sites within Rio Tinto's concession in the Pic de Fon. During the RAP, nearly 800 species were recorded, including seven species new to science and 11 threatened species, such as the West African chimpanzee and Sierra Leone Prinia. These findings fed into Rio Tinto's baseline studies for its Environmental Impact Assessment. Building from the findings of these assessments, an initial biodiversity action plan was developed and subsequently built upon by Rio Tinto’s team. CI’s role as an advisor on the project, forming part of a Biodiversity Committee with other NGO partners, has continued as the mine site continues to develop and new efforts on rail and port infrastructure are expanded. New work, in partnership with IUCN, also continues on verifying the status of Rio Tinto’s projects attaining NPI, via review of specific projects and development of internal guidance and assessment protocols. A way forward in New Caledonia? Based on these experiences with mining and biodiversity elsewhere, a number of options emerge for ways to move the mining sector in New Caledonia towards one of doing no harm and, ideally, becoming responsible stewards of the landscape in which they work. Following on our approaches elsewhere we have grouped these into the three types of action: incentives, tools and projects. Step one will be to understand and, where necessary, improve or promote incentives for good practice in New Caledonia. This could include: i)
Identifying the financers of the major mine projects in New Caledonia and confirming where these are Equator Principle Finance Intuitions. Where this is the case, working with these specific projects to raise awareness of their commitment to the Equator Principles and ensure compliance with the underlying IFC Performance Standards. ii)
Assessing the corporate policies of the major mine companies in New Caledonia to identify how they compare to leading peers, both in having and implementing adequate safeguards and taking leadership positions as responsible agents of national development and conservation. Where these are lacking, raise awareness of international best practices. iii)
Reviewing national regulation and guidance on mining development and environmental conservation to understand how current national laws compare with voluntary standards and other leading legislation. Where laws are adequate, understanding issues with implementation. Where laws are lacking, exposing new models to law makes through training and inter‐country exchange. Where incentives are established, tools could be identified to help with facilitating their implementation. Training needs on specific tools ranging from better risk/impact assessment and mitigation processes to biodiversity action planning and reporting will be determined by the specific needs and capacity gaps identified via review of current incentives. Most important will be projects: working with key leaders in the industry to showcase what can be done in New Caledonia by responsible companies on the ground. A strong focus will be about moving beyond compliance to establishing the mining sector as a force for positive development in New Caledonia through their support of broader conservation and natural resource management at the landscape and national scales. Through successful implementation companies will both contribute to better natural resource management conservation in New Caledonia as well as establish examples for their peers, both nationally and internationally. Page 9 of 11 References CI. 2000. Lightening the Lode: A Guide to Responsible Large‐scale Mining. CI Policy Papers Series. Conservation International, Washington DC, USA. CIA. 2011. The World Factbook 2011. Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC. Accessed: 9‐Nov‐
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US Smuts, R . 2010. Are partnerships the key to conserving Africa’s biodiversity? Four partnership case studies between mining companies and conservation NGOs. Conservation International, Arlington, USA. Direction de l’industrie, des mines et de l’énergie du gouvernement de Nouvelle‐Calédonie, 2011. http://dimenc.gouv.nc/portal/page/portal/dimenc Page 11 of 11