Community Development with a focus on Mining
Mining and exploration on First Nations traditional territories are creating both opportunities and challenges, with important impacts on rights and interests, community social and economic development, environmental and community wellness.
Stonecircle works directly with communities to maximize benefits and mitigate potential harm from mineral development, offering support and advice in several key areas.
We help Band Councils and communities to develop an in-depth understanding of the mining sector – the mining cycle, the legal framework that defines resource development, and the impacts, employment and business opportunities that mining creates.
We help situate mining in the broader context of integrated planning for community economic development, establishing broad objectives and the place of mining in the overall community vision.
We work with communities to prepare long-term strategic plans for mineral development that incorporate all the key elements that affect a community - training and employment, business development, key partnerships, land and resource use planning, and community / stakeholder consultation. We’ve often been able to help groups identify and apply for external funding to support this phase.
As part of the process, we also help communities to develop their own policy framework to ensure that development happens on THEIR terms, defining values and priorities in essential areas like values, Traditional Knowledge, community consultation and workforce development, and environmental stewardship.
We support the community with advice, management assistance and expertise through the initial stages of development - resource assessment, impact assessment, and the negotiation of agreements and protocols on exploration, benefits and 
impacts management. Our team of consultants and associates includes technical advisors in environmental engineering, TEK practitioners, and financial and legal expertise.
When development begins, we can help support implementation of the community’s plan through development of tools and systems to help manage industry relations, community communication and consultation, organizational development and training, business development, and financial management.
We help First Nations evaluate the REAL impact of development, tracking and monitoring actual results and adjusting plans as required.
And throughout the entire process, our focus remains on capacity building –working with First Nations to ensure that our skills are transferred to people who will continue managing and implementing processes over the long term.