Client Requirement: Imerys is a title holder of mining concessions in Arequipa (a Region located in the Mountain Central Zone of Peru). These mining concessions are located in the middle of lands owned by an indigenous community and this fact forces the Company to enter into a mandatory easement agreement. In addition, it is important to consider that indigenous communities are protected by special laws and regulations. Also, we should be aware that the idiosyncrasy varies from community to community and each case should be developed on a tailor-made basis. Regularly, the aggregated combination of all these facts made the negotiations with indigenous communities a task quite difficult to achieve. Considering the vital importance of this agreement to allow the development of its business, the Client requested our assistance to reach a satisfactory win-win negotiation with the indigenous community of Polobaya.
Our participation: We used all our soft skills and legal knowledgement as well as our acquired experience in past negotiations to assist our client to reach a great deal. Our special contribution was the suggestion to involve in the negotiations not only the current Board members of the community but also other leaders within the community in order to get the widest possible consensus among the beneficiaries of the contributions to be provided by our Client. Also, the contributions did not appear on a generic manner but they were designed with special purposes: education, agriculture and medical services in order for the community members to see a direct impact on their daily lives.
Client benefit: Client was able to provide valuable social contributions to the community members to improve their opportunities of development. Client also got a key tool to allow the performance of its business within a great social environment.
