Cooperationhttps://www.theaureport.com/pub/na/why-csr-makes-sense-for-communities-companies-and-investors
A Cooperative Approach
Thyana Alvarez Claro, director of Responsabilidad Social at Red Eagle Mining Corp. (RD:TSX.V), which has a mine under construction at the Santa Rosa gold project near the city of Medellin in Colombia, said being a good neighbor is particularly important in that part of the world. "Mining has typically been small scale and brought negative impacts, including drug addiction and illegal activity," she said. "We are showing the community that a gold mine can bring positive impacts including education, cultural events, sports opportunities and sustainable jobs."
Red Eagle takes a cooperative approach to community involvement. "We work together with the community, government leaders, the local church and stakeholders. It is not paternal. They decide the priorities and education is one of the biggest ones. That is why we started an adult computer literacy program that has already worked with 375 people to give them the tools to be productive. Another 100 have already enrolled in the adult elementary and secondary program. This is important in the villages where many only have fifth grade educations."
"Red Eagle Mining Corp. takes a cooperative approach to community involvement."
Red Eagle Mining also recently participated in a program with theLookout Ridge Foundation to donate 70 wheelchairs to local residents, including children like three-year-old Laura Arboleda, previously limited by lack of mobility. Streetwise Reports founder Gordon Holmes' Lookout Ridge Foundation, which has both a Canadian and a U.S. nonprofit, works with individuals, mining companies, other companies and The Wheelchair Foundation, which has donated more than one million wheelchairs in more than 100 countries. "A principle of Red Eagle since its foundation has been returning benefit to the communities where we work," said CEO Ian Slater during his speech at the presentation ceremony.
Laura Arboleda receives a wheelchair from Red Eagle CEO Ian Slater (left) and Gordon Holmes (right).
The company focuses on being part of the community by hiring locally as well. Of the 175 people employed at the site so far, 75% are from the local area, which is made up of about 1,000 families on the outskirts of a larger city of 45,000 people.
While calculating the return on investment of CSR can be difficult to pin down because often it requires guestimating things that didn't happen, including lawsuits and an expanded permitting process, Alvarez Claro was able to point to some real results. "The reception has been enthusiastic and that good work is part of the reason Red Eagle mining was able to get the licenses it has obtained," she said. "Of some 60 mining companies that had been exploring in Colombia in the last decade, fewer than seven are left and only Red Eagle has been permitted to start a mine."