COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Petra Minerals Pty Ltd has been exploring and operating in the North Creswick area since 2008. Petra’s parent company Creswick Quartz Ltd has been operating in the area since 1996, producing a range of quartz products for the local construction and gardening industries. Due to the relatively wide separation of residences within the project area Petra has been mostly engaging with the local community on a landowner by landowner basis, particularly when access is being sought to private land. It is believed that individual landowners have a good appreciation of how the company operates, its work practices and ethics, how proposed operations might affect the landowner’s interests and what is the future direction of the Company. At the same time Petra has gained an appreciation of individual landowner’s concerns, their expectations and the sensitivities that exist within the community. Feedback from the individual landowners has been incorporated into the planning and timing of operations both prior to the commencement of an activity and during the prosecuting of that activity. The community must remain confident that they will be given good audience and that their input will be respected.

Attitudes and appreciation of landowner communities are influenced by past mining and exploration practices and this has often created a negative perception of exploration and mining. This perception can be overcome by community involvement and the application of proper exploration and mining processes. All operations by Petra are conducted in accordance with the Code of Practice for Mineral Exploration under the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act (1990) and incorporate results of consultation with the affected community.

The Act does not give a mineral exploration company right of entry upon any private land without the written consent of the landowner.

Since 2010 Petra has been conducting borehole mining trials and bulk sampling in a limited area on ground owned 100 percent by Petra. During this time the nearby residents have been in regular contact with the Company’s operations. No material complaints have ever been received by the company in respect of these trials.

Because of the relatively limited areal coverage of the exploration drilling and borehole mining trials any impact was only local, and community engagement to date has been essentially “one on one”. Future operations will evolve from relatively low impact exploration to higher impact feasibility assessment. This will require an evolution in the interaction between Petra and the local community.

Project evolution cannot proceed without an effective review and monitoring process and this includes Community Engagement. Community Engagement must be sufficiently flexible that changes can be predicted and acted upon in a timely manner.

As the project advances the target community will expand from individual landowners to the landowner community as a group and to individuals who may not live in the immediate area but who may have the perception that the operations could affect their amenity.

Public interest groups including, but not limited to, heritage and historical societies, Public Service groups, Indigenous Peoples, Land Care Groups and commercial interests will be engaged as the project progresses as will Local, State and Federal Government Authorities, Regulatory Authorities and Catchment Authorities.

COMMUNITY INTERFACE

Integrity and continuity demand that all interface is through a nominated company representative who will be thoroughly familiar with the project direction and who will have a demonstrated empathy with the community and their respect. This representative will be charged with reporting any such interface to Project Management and reporting the outcome back to the Community. 

Petra propose the utilisation of one or several of the following methods (as deemed appropriate) to distribute information and to receive community input:-

•     Personal contact with immediately affected parties

•     Regular information sheets, newsletters and project updates by post or personal delivery to all identified interests

•     Presentation of the project in locally distributed media such as newspapers, community newsletters etc.

•     Maintenance of a website which will be regularly updated to be current with the project development and future direction. This website is currently being established.

•     Presentations of the project’s direction and aims by address to public interest groups such as Landcare Groups, local service organisations such as Lions, Rotary and Farmers Associations and Indigenous Peoples etc. These interests will often be nominated through contact with individual members and the presentation will often be by invitation from the interest group.

•     Presentations to Local and State Government Authorities.

•     Poster or similar displays on the perimeter of any operations being conducted

•     Poster or similar displays at prominent locations within the community, at community gatherings or at prominent locations within the community as may be deemed appropriate

•     On-site visits on a restricted basis to demonstrate the project operation.

•     Advertising of the appropriate channels through which any Community Group can contact the nominated Company Representative either by phone, email or post.

•     Individual communities will be affected or impacted differently. The degree to which any particular community is affected will determine the method by which they are consulted and the level at which their concerns/input are incorporated. This will require an objective decision by the Company. 

•     As the project progresses towards mining the need to establish a Project Review Committee consisting of Company, Community, local Government and Regulatory Authority representatives will be examined.

•     At the start of any community interface the Company will make clear what decisions are non-negotiable. It must be understood that the project is being managed by the Company but that the input of the community is valued to ensure the project is operated in a way that protects the best interests of all parties.