In 2018, the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) published a report – Social Progress in Mining-Dependent Countries: Analysis through the lens of the SDGs – that analyzed the socio-economic progress and improved well-being of citizens in mining-dependent countries (MDCs) between 1995 and 2015. The study examined a set of metrics grouped under 12 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and found that across 78% of the metrics, life in these countries has improved.
Among the MDCs (which are defined by the percentage of exports and gross domestic product coming from mining) with the biggest relative improvement is Peru.
Hudbay recognizes that our mining activities can be a powerful force for development, especially in countries where mining plays a significant role in the economy. At our Constancia operation in Peru, socio-economic development considerations are integrated into all stages of the mine life and across all levels of the business. Our goal is for the communities near our operation to benefit from our presence and to continue to thrive long after our operations cease. At Constancia, we work to contribute to this goal by providing meaningful jobs, supporting livelihoods, developing skills, improving education and investing in infrastructure the communities want and need.
In 2021, ICMM published an update that extends the analysis in the 2018 report to further explore how socio-economic development has progressed in the MDCs and the extent to which governance has influenced outcomes. The update concluded that the higher the quality of natural resource governance, the greater the socio-economic progress.
Initiatives such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) support the efforts to fight corruption, improve transparency and accountability, and strengthen resource governance to unlock better socio-economic outcomes. As a member of the Peruvian Mining Society, we support the EITI process in Peru and efforts to promote better resource governance so that the full range of benefits from mining are captured for the people of Peru and used to foster continued development and social progress.