ICMM - International Council on Mining & Metals

NEWS

06.09.07
Resource Endowment initiative: Phase 3 update

The third phase of ICMM’s Resource Endowment initiative is now well underway, following three years of research and in-country stakeholder engagement.

The initiative seeks to identify the circumstances in which positive socio-economic outcomes can flow from mineral endowments, thus avoiding the ‘resource curse’. A pilot study is currently being undertaken in Peru, with the active involvement of all eight ICMM members companies with operations in Peru: AngloAmerican, CVRD, Freeport/Phelps Dodge, Gold Fields, Newmont, Rio Tinto, Teck Cominco, and Xstrata. The project aims to support the sharing of experiences, lessons and messages among the different stakeholders to encourage the uptake of the recommendations emerging from the Resource Endowment initiative to date. Oxford Policy Management is leading the work, in association with ERM. In Peru, the team is supported at the local level by Ciudadanos al Dia.

Two further pilot studies are planned.

Running in parallel with the pilot studies is further work on mineral taxation, which will be used to bolster the relevant section of the Resource Endowment toolkit (first published in April 2006). The research, which will provide lessons and perspectives on different minerals taxation regimes and their application, is due for completion by the end of 2007.

The four country case studies that were carried out during phase 2 of the project, for Chile, Peru, Ghana and Tanzania have been signed off by the governments of each country. A dissemination workshop for the Chile case study took place at the Institute of Engineers in Santiago, Chile, in March, 2007. ICMM’s Kathryn McPhail presented the findings of the report. The workshop provided local stakeholders involved in earlier phases of the initiative with the opportunity to hear findings and recommendations. A similar workshop was held in Peru, in May 2007, where Kathryn McPhail presented the findings of the Peru case study at the annual ProExplo conference in Lima.

Dissemination workshops for Ghana are planned at the World Bank Regional Forum in Accra, Ghana, most likely in December 2007 and in Tanzania, together with the World Bank Group, most likely in November 2007.

Phase 3 also aims at disseminating the findings and recommendations and to reach out to the mining industry’s partners beyond the narrow circle of the sector. A number of organisations, including government agencies, international banks, labour organizations and academic institutions, agreed to participate in dissemination activities at the launch of Phase 3 at the Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, in June, 2006.

Attendance at the event exceeded expectations and included our partners from the World Bank and UNCTAD, inter-governmental organizations, equator banks, NGOs, think tanks and academics. The findings of the review received wide support. The Brookings Institution concluded that in such a thorny area, it was a tribute to ICMM “that there was such sincere admiration and support for the work from very diverse perspectives around the table”

Running in parallel with dissemination activities and pilot projects is further work on mineral taxation, which will be used to bolster the relevant section of the Resource Endowment toolkit. The research, which will look at such aspects of mineral taxation as public-private split, distributional options, and transparency of finances, is due for completion by the end of, 2007.

For further information about the Resource Endowment initiative please contact Kathryn McPhail on +44 (0)20 7467 5076 or kathryn.mcphail@icmm.com.