Permitting: A Comprehensive Guide by Clockworx

Permitting is one of the most important practices for the mining and extraction industry. This overview will help you identify ways to improve your process.

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What is permitting 

Permitting is the process of acquiring a license from the relevant authorities to conduct mining operations. It is a requirement for all mining activity, from the beginning of exploration right through to extraction, wastage, closure and land rehabilitation. Because permits are required for every stage of mining, it is an ongoing process throughout the life of the project. Additionally, once permits are granted for a particular stage, they may require renewal or inspection for the continuation of the project.  

Permitting challenges

There is no universal standard for permitting. Every nation has its own legislation around mining. And even within a country, different locales may have additional or separate requirements. The proximal community may add additional steps to permitting. For example, if the land for which a company is seeking permits is on or near indigenous land, there may be extra processes.

Natural resources adjacent to or affected by mining activity can vary widely. Water, timber, wildlife, and even public access to nature all have to be considered as well. Governments value these things differently from each other, so understanding priorities is a must.

As a result, companies seeking permits in areas new to them often seek a specialist consultancy to navigate the local process. Even with local expertise, juggling permitting across multiple locations, different systems, and separate experts is a lot. From one jurisdiction to another, there will be no transferability of permits. Every application is unique. For a company with global operations, things can get complicated quickly.

Fundamentally, permitting is a project management job. Keeping control of relationships with stakeholders, wrangling decision makers and funders, mitigating risks, and meeting deadlines and contractual obligations are all required. Handling it all is daunting. But we can help. 

Stakeholders and their roles

Because excavation projects are so highly regulated, there are a lot of stakeholders. Their varying interests may result in very different, even opposite opinions. Some stakeholders have more of a say over permitting than others. The key players in the permitting process tend to be:

• Mining company project executives - The project leaders bring a complete understanding of the purpose of the project. They should have a speculative plan for a mine's lifecycle and a clear understanding of potential environmental impact.
• Consultant - Many projects use consultancy services to advise on local considerations. They will know both the regulatory requirements for the region and site characteristics that will affect the application. This can include information about natural features, infrastructure, relationships with the community, political issues and much more.
• Government agency - Permits are granted by government agencies. These agencies will be looking to ensure that the permits are going to responsible, reputable companies. They will have their own criteria for safeguarding finances, the land, and people who may be affected.
• Local community - People who live, work, study or otherwise occupy the land where the exploration is planned will have an interest in mine permitting. How much power and voice these people have varies considerably. But indigenous groups in particular have the backing of the UN to ensure their consent is obtained before any activities move forward. The United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, article 32 requires this consent before any permits are issued.
• Protesters - The fact is, mining operations often attract political protest from special interest groups. Sometimes the people protesting don't have any specific personal connection to the area. They wish to disrupt the industry in general. While the consent of protesters is not required, it can be useful to understand what their objections are and to cultivate positive public relations.

At the end of the day, there is a balance to be struck between considering all angles and keeping the process progressing. Permitting does not necessarily result in ongoing excavation operations, so having essential information ready to go will help push things to a decision-making stage faster. Delays can cause financial disruption, and inaccurate information may result in fines. Getting it right the first time and on time are both crucial.

Clockworx's capabilities support the permitting process from beginning to end. We provide a holistic approach to management that links information and people through innovative digital organization and automation. Project executives will find help from:

• Task, Project & Programme Management - Every project needs some flexibility. Clockworx includesScrum, Kanban and Gantt for organizing teams and tasks assignments. Choose from a variety of schedulers and resource management tools. Configurable reports and customizable dashboards make it easy to access exactly what you need. Alerts, reminders and collaboration tools are integrated for simplifying complex projects like permitting.
• Knowledge Management - Sharing information is critical, particularly when a project relies on specialist expertise. Clockworx enables the capture, distribution and retention of knowledge using wikis (with an integrated visio style drawing tool, BPMN, CMMN and DMN modelers, diagrams using text descriptions and mind maps), knowledge posts, forums and Q&A discussion threads. Interaction can be controlled based on users and teams. External partners can be given access, as well, with tiered privileges.
• Ticketing & Stakeholder Support Ticketing - Ticketing streamlines inquiry resolution. Any work done on a case can be linked by ticket ID so that information isn't lost or duplicated, saving time for faster solutions. Support Desk capabilities allow users to help themselves. Automatic escalation thresholds keep issues moving up until they are sorted. 

Costs, risks and mitigation

Because permitting is an ongoing process, there are naturally also ongoing costs. Primarily, the financial costs comprise:

1. Permit fees - Applying for permits entails paying administrative or processing fees. A new permit for each stage of development and/or renewals when permits expire contribute to ongoing costs.
2. Land search and survey - Some governments charge for access to land records or survey results, even for public land.
3. Offsets - Communities may require environmental offsets in order to undertake extraction activity. This could be a commitment to funding a restoration project elsewhere, or creating an in-house initiative.
4. Consultancy and management - Someone has to do the work! Specialist consultants and staff managers all rack up costs, including travel.
5. Administrative costs - Gathering information, maintaining schedules and completing the paperwork can add up to some of the biggest employee time costs.

Clockworx has cost management covered. These capabilities help keep projects on track financially:

• Search Knowledge - First things first. Content search (within tasks, wikis, knowledge articles, etc.) and deep search (within files) let users quickly find what they're after. Centralized databases eliminate version control issues, so everyone is working with the same information. In standard systems, workers spend up to 12 hours per week seeking information needed to complete a task. Clockworx search capabilities improve productivity and decrease decision-making time.
• Budgeting and Finance Management - Customizable finance dashboards, financial planning tools, and purchase approval trackers manage budgets, monitor cash flows and control costs. Cost area hierarchies can be added to control spending. Clockworx keeps track of all transactions within the business in real time.
• Reporting, Analytics & Tracking - Convert business data into informative reports, charts, graphs or maps as well as compound (bespoke) or externally generated visualizations (using tools like Grafana or Kibana) with Clockworx. Generate detailed, custom reports to support permit applications.

As with any project, risk identification is a must to be able to create a mitigation plan.. Some of the major risks here are:

• Denial or withdrawal of permit
• Missed contractual obligations
• Financial and other penalties
• Lack of stakeholder confidence

Ensuring that initial permits will be granted will allow the rest of the project to go ahead. Therefore managing people, information and tasks effectively is a necessity. Once permits start to be granted, contract management will come into play. Meeting every obligation and deadline will prevent permit withdrawal. Maintaining compliance with relevant regulatory bodies will reduce the risk of penalties, such as fines or even imprisonment.

Stakeholders will be looking closely at a company's reputation. Building and maintaining confidence can be accomplished by conscientious decision-making. Keeping track of the details will allow a company to address concerns competently. Community buy-in will go a long way towards long-term success. Investors will also be interested in a company that can show responsibility and commitment to best practices. Finally, a good reputation for compliance and good community relationships will lead to future opportunities in other areas. Here's how Clockworx can help:

• Compliance & Risk Management - Link risks with audit assessments using Clockworx to provide instant access to evidence of compliance. Automate contract renewal reminders and generate form templates with any information you need for the next stage of permitting. Be audit read at the ready.
• Asset Management - No risk assessment is complete without an asset register. Group, sort, track and cost-control assets across multiple locations. Tracking and geolocation allow entities to be plotted on maps in real time. Clockworx allows anything stored within the system to be geolocated and expressed on maps together with polygons or tiles from external GIS systems.

Clockworx is designed to make complex projects easier to manage by linking data, applications and teams. You may ask, what can it do for me? Clockworx asks, what do you need?