Community Guide to Monitoring Mining

Citizen and civil society participation can be a powerful tool to promote regulatory compliance and propose regulatory improvements in all directions mentioned above. This Toolkit is designed to inform and equip citizens and civil society organizations to participate in advancing the environmental, health, social, and economic development of their mining-affected communities. As such, this Toolkit can also be useful for local authorities, which are often in need of technical capacity and know-how to promote the environmental, social, health, disaster resilience, and economic interests of their communities at the regional and national levels as well as in relation to mining operators. This Toolkit aims to:

 – Promote constructive discussions between communities, mining companies and government bodies

 – Highlight sustainable development issues with the best possible outcomes at the local level from the
onset

 – During the different phases of a project, facilitate socio-economic improvements with the vision of
how to maintain them, even after the end of the project

 – Address any deviations occurring during a phase in a project cycle through smooth stakeholder discussions
to develop corrective actions

 – Act as a reference for safety around abandoned mining and quarrying sites

The Toolkit is structured into several sections. The main body of the Toolkit presents some of the key terms that those monitoring mining activities should be familiar with. It then offers an overview of each of the phases in the life cycle of mines, especially metal mines, starting from exploration and ending with postclosure maintenance. In each section, particular attention is paid to the EHSDE risks, responsibilities, and mitigation measures. The Toolkit also offers 4 important and useful Annexes containing checklist, summary of impacts and mitigations, summary of international practice, and Armenian legislation related to mining.