Understanding water concerns around mining operations

What is shaping mining

Mining operations depend on a social licence from nearby communities as much as on permits. Safety culture, workforce welfare and transparent CSR shape how companies are seen locally and by regulators.

• Community trust can make or break an operation
• Safety culture is measured by behaviour, not policies
• CSR spending is increasingly evaluated for real impact

A copper mining company, working in Morocco & Saudi Arabia. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.

Organisation

A copper mining company

Sector

Mining

Team engaged

Market Research

Services

Research consultancy, Quantitative research, Qualitative research

In water-scarce regions, communities and farmers worried that mining operations reduced groundwater and affected quality. The company needed to understand these concerns to design a credible water stewardship programme. Social media rumours about contaminated wells had increased tension, and local authorities were asking the company for answers.

• Deliver on the brief: understanding water concerns around mining operations.
• Understand the views, needs and behaviour of households.
• Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
• Give the client evidence it can act on within 9 weeks.

The work focused on 1,100 households.

• households1,100

Audiences we typically reach in mining

Host communitiesMine workers and contractorsLocal leaders and officialsRegulatorsCSR beneficiaries

Coverage: Morocco & Saudi Arabia. Markets: Morocco and Saudi Arabia.

• Morocco
• Saudi Arabia

A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.

1. 1Brief
2. 2Community survey
3. 3Farmer interviews
4. 4Stakeholder workshops
5. 5Insight

We surveyed nearby households and farmers in Arabic and local languages about water sources, perceived changes and trust in information, and held workshops with local authorities and water user groups. Interviewers were recruited locally, and questions covered how people would prefer to receive water information and from whom they would trust it.

Research consultancyQuantitative researchQualitative research

households

1,100

• Respondents were selected across Morocco & Saudi Arabia using quotas set in advance for each location and respondent type, so no single area or group dominated.
• Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.

interviews

40

• Trained local-language interviewers conducted interviews in person, supervised in the field.
• Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.

• Back-checks on a share of completed interviews
• Time and location checks on field interviews
• Supervisor accompaniment in the field
• Recordings and transcripts for every session
• Re-screening of qualitative recruits
• Logic and range checks on the final data
• Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures

• Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
• Significance testing on the differences that mattered
• Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
• Journey and decision mapping

• Communities wanted independent water monitoring with published results.
• Community representatives sat on the monitoring committee, and early results helped dispel several rumours about contamination.

Independent, transparent data built more trust than company assurances.

• Build on the core insight: independent, transparent data built more trust than company assurances.
• Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: communities wanted independent water monitoring with published results.
• Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.

• The company funded a jointly governed monitoring programme and shared quarterly results publicly.

What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.

• Insight report and management presentation
• Cleaned data file and data tables
• Interview summaries and key verbatims

• Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
• A natural follow-on question: which CSR programmes make a real difference?