Community perception and social licence surveys for mining

IALE Institute measures what host communities really think of a mining operation. We run the full research cycle, from design and multilingual fieldwork to analysis and boardroom presentation, so trust and social licence become numbers you can track, defend and act on.

Accredited by the South African Government's Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) · Member of the Claude Partner Network

Method

Built on frameworks your board and regulators recognise

Trust and social licence

CSIRO trust-driver modelling and the Boutilier–Thomson social licence scale.

Impact standards

IFC Performance Standard 1 and Vanclay's social impact dimensions.

Industry practice

ICMM community relations practice, applied to your host communities.

Longitudinal design

Wave-on-wave comparability from the start, so year-three results answer the question year one asked.

Fieldwork

From question to decision

Stage	What we do
Design	Instruments, sampling and ethics clearance
Fieldwork	Local enumerators, multilingual instruments, 15%+ back-checks
Analysis	Statistics plus NLP at scale, validated by researchers
Decision	Boardroom presentation and an action plan

Research & perception surveys practice →

Proof

Mining and community work we have delivered

4IR and Northern Cape mining

A study for the National Union of Mineworkers on how AI and automation will affect jobs, skills and livelihoods (2022).

Community Pulse Analytics

An analytics platform for community development trusts: perception data, sentiment and service issues visible to trustees in real time.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

What is a community perception survey in mining?

A structured study of what host communities think of a mining operation: trust, perceived benefits and harms, and the strength of the operation's social licence. Done well, it is statistically testable and repeatable year on year.

Which frameworks does IALE use?

We build on CSIRO trust-driver modelling, the Boutilier–Thomson social licence scale, IFC Performance Standard 1, Vanclay's social impact dimensions and ICMM community relations practice.

How do you ensure data quality in the field?

Multilingual instruments, local enumerators, ethics-cleared protocols and a back-check regime of at least 15% on every survey.

Can you analyse responses in African languages?

Yes. We use NLP-augmented qualitative analysis of open-ended responses, including community voice in African languages, always validated by human researchers.

How do we commission a study?

Use the Request for Quote form. Every study is scoped to the operation, the communities and the decisions it must inform, and we respond within one working day.

Next step

Know what your host communities actually think.

If the honest answer is “we’re not sure”, that is a measurable problem. We will design the study, field it and put the answer, with an action plan, in front of your board.

Request for Quote →