Despite the downturn, mining continues to shape rural Australia in profound ways. But many remote communities have struggled to capitalise on the opportunities it can bring. Until now.

A major project hosted by the UNE Business School has, for the first time, tracked and mapped the contribution that mining makes to remote economies. It will help communities to manage the risks and reap the rewards of development, not just from mining.

The Enduring Community Value from Mining (ECVM) team within the Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation (CRC REP) has spent almost six years assessing the impacts of mining in remote communities across Australia.

Researchers from the CRC (including representatives of UNE, Curtin University, the University of South Australia and University of Tasmania) have collaborated with community groups, local businesses, mining companies, government and NGOs on a range of initiatives.

Importantly, they have produced a range of models, including one that tracks and maps the size and flow of costs and benefits generated by mining operations, and considered how best to manage the economic, social and cultural impacts of mining.

The research has also highlighted the importance of mine lifecycle planning and corporate social responsibility, and has inspired a mining toolkit to help remote communities better understand and get the most from mining.

Principal research leader Dr Boyd Blackwell, an economist with UNE, said an abundance of natural resources was no guarantee of prosperity for local people.

He hopes the ECVM team’s work will help to turn short-term economic benefits of resource extraction into long-term community gains.

“Remote communities with mining on their doorstep need to be able to make more informed decisions about their long-term future,” Dr Blackwell says.

“The impact of mining can be monumental. We sought to identify its benefits, so that communities might be better equipped to tap into them, and we hope this will help guide future decision-making.”

Sixty per cent of Australia’s mining occurs in remote Australia, where it contributes 27% of $291 billion of Gross Regional Product.

Mining also provides 66,000 jobs (35% of Australia’s total mining jobs), comprising 18% of employment in remote parts of the country.

But while mining contributes about $9.4 billion to government coffers each year through royalty payments, these monies do not necessarily return to the communities from where the resource was extracted.

“There are currently few mechanisms for the return of royalties to regions,” Dr Blackwell said.

“It is important for communities to get commitments and agreements from mining companies on how they will provide lasting benefits.”

He said mining development can create direct employment, business development and diversification, additional support services, and contribute to critical infrastructure and social projects.

In the Northern Territory, regional partnerships between the NT Government, Federal Government, mining companies and Aboriginal Land Councils have proven effective.

The Walpiri Education and Training Trust, for example, is believed to receive more than $1.2 million annually (depending on production and price) from the Newmont Granites Tanami gold operation, which has enabled a strong women’s leadership group to address serious community health and social problems such as glue sniffing.

A world-renowned arts and performance industry has also been developed.

Although mining investment across the country has slowed, the industry has shifted to an operational phase that requires fewer but more permanent staff.

“This is a very important time in the typical economic life of a mine, because it’s when communities will begin to receive significant royalties from extracting the resource and benefit from the need for a more stable, local workforce and business contracting,” Dr Blackwell said.

“Our toolkit provides information to help communities prepare for and shape their own futures economically, socially, culturally, politically and environmentally.”