English

SECTORAL
SOCIAL PERCEPTION OF MINING: A METHOD STUDY

ECONOMY
RESEARCH ARTICLE Pedro Mora-Peris, Antonio Ruíz-Martín, María Suárez-Rodríguez and Mining
Bernardo Llamas-Moya

Pedro Mora-Peris, Antonio Ruíz-Martín, María Suárez-Rodríguez and Bernardo Llamas-Moya
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain)

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.6036/10460
1.- INTRODUCTION
Traditionally, mining activity has been criticized for being considered unsustainable [1]. However, other authors claim that mineral raw
materials and energy uses of the subsoil will play a fundamental role in ensuring the transition and prosperity of current and future
civilizations [2].
The success of mining projects depends to a large extent on the support of local communities [3], referred to as social license to
operate. This concept relates not only to social development projects for communities, but fundamentally promotes the establishment
of legitimacy, trust and credibility, prior to the start of the first project development [4]. Therefore, it is advisable to adopt a collaborative
approach to existing problems prior to the project or that arise during its development [5] and to concentrate efforts on generating
effective and understandable means of communication [6].
The social perception, formed by a significant set of attributive variables that qualifies it, is defined as the mental representation of the
reality in the collective memory. The importance for individuals and entities of building and developing a positive image is deductible,
and although it refers to commercial companies, it can be also perfectly extrapolated to other types of organizations or activities [7].
Once elaborated, the perception takes their place among social realities when it is transferred to the stream of public opinion. Because
of this fact, it takes shape when it is incorporated into a certain collective or population group. Public opinion combines the vision of
the people with scientific approaches, both from theoretical studies and empirical research [8].
Empirical methods for measuring public opinion [9] (opinion surveys, interviews, content analysis, attitude scales and tests) are
methods and techniques designed to measure opinions, attitudes and evaluations of individuals, groups or samples. Among all these
techniques, opinion surveys are the most widely used and best-known instrument for measuring public opinion, followed by interviews
[10].
The aim of this research work is to develop a model to evaluate the impact of mining activity in the areas where it has been
implemented, including the benefits and drawbacks that mining has brought to the area and the public opinion it stirs.
To this end, a method and techniques will be designed and applied to evaluate the impact—positive or negative—of mining in different
areas of social and economic activity in the populations investigated. This methodology will make it possible to establish guidelines for
carrying out the study, the elaboration of scales and rates, and a quantitative assessment of the impact of mining, which will facilitate
comparison with other areas and populations. In this way, the model can be used to evaluate future reopening of mining operations
and mining activity or could serve as an example of the opinion on mining and how it evolves towards a positive image.
2.- MATERIALS AND METHODS

The area where the method for measuring the social image of mining was developed was the Alto Guadiato region, more specifically
in the so-called Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo-Bélmez mining basin (Córdoba, Spain), which includes the most closely linked towns to mining
in the Sierra Morena of Córdoba and defined by the experts as a typical, traditionally mining community.
The analysis of public opinion and the praxis itself design most of the techniques that seek to analyze a given social phenomenon.
This gave rise to field surveys, interviews, content analysis, attitude scales and tests. Of all these, the field survey followed by the
interview are the most widely used and best-known instruments for measuring public opinion.
2.1 Interviews
The first technique was to conduct structured interviews with people in charge of a significant role for the local society following a
previously prepared script. For the selection of the personalities to be interviewed (Table 1), a double criterion was followed: (1) people
with a significant role for the local society and (2) wide range of activities and professions.
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Table 1. Sample selected from a broad spectrum of professions and activities

Respondents
Mine managers and mining technicians 8 Trade unionist
Business owner 8 Lawyer
Professors 7 Doctors
Presidents of Associations 3 Pharmacist
Teachers in middle and high school 4 Architects
Bank manager 3 Priests
Historians 2 Journalists
Politicians 2 Economists
Total respondents 48
The sampling frame is a list of the items or people forming a population under study, delimiting the sample and the units that compose
it (Table 1). When the sample under study is specialized groups, it is usual to use professional directories, as has been the case.
2.2 Field survey
The questionnaire is a rigorously standardized data collection instrument that translates and analyzes certain problems that are the
object of research. The form and choice of questions, their clarity and number, and even the order in which they are arranged, are of
great importance for the results sought.
The present research work elaborated a questionnaire to measure the opinion on mining. A scale of 19 items was elaborated from
Question 9 to Question 28 (Q.9 to Q.28) except for Q.23, where each of the variables has been quantified by means of a Likert scale
of six alternatives: very positive (6), positive (5), slightly positive (4), slightly negative (3), negative (2) and very negative (1). This type
of statistical procedure makes it possible to measure opinions and attitudes of individuals, which facilitates the quantitative treatment
of the phenomenon being pursued. The neutral option was intentionally not given in order to force the responses in all cases to have
a bias, positive or negative, and to allow the respondent to take a stand on the question posed.
The first eight questions (Q.1 to Q.8) were used to obtain information to classify the respondents. The following questions (Q.9 to Q.28)
provide insight into the perception of mining compared to other sectors (agriculture, education and health, among others).
A cluster sampling system, commonly used for opinion polls and market research, was chosen. In addition to the cluster by age and
sex, location criteria were introduced for the surveyors in order to achieve the highest possible degree of representativeness and
randomness. It is intended to cover all the neighborhoods of both populations to minimize social and economic bias.
In order to define the size of the specific sample, the population to be investigated was analyzed. It comprises the main population
centers of the Alto Guadiato mining basin. The age stratification has been carried out considering the intervals defined by the Spanish
Statistical Office (INE), but in this case the research team reduced it to four intervals, considering the ages from teenagers, young
people, adults and senior citizens.
From the analysis of the census data we obtain a series of consequences: firstly, the population over 15 years of age—part of the
population considered suitable to be take part in the interview—represents in Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo 76.7% of the total, and results
three times (3.2) higher than the population of Bélmez (23.3%). In a first adjustment, the number of surveys to be carried out in
Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo will be three times the number carried out in Bélmez. Secondly, in the two localities investigated the male
inhabitants represent 47% of the total population, compared to 53% represented by the female population. This difference has been
corrected to a large extent in the batches assigned to each of the surveyors because it was specified that of the total 33 surveys that
each one of them was supposed to carry out, seventeen (51.5%) would correspond to women and sixteen (48.5%) to men. In the case
of conducting thirty-four, the ratio should be eighteen (52.9%) to sixteen (47.1%). This second adjustment also replicates quite closely
the environment to be studied. Third, to set the clusters corresponding to each age group, the percentages of the population included
in each group were calculated by rounding the actual percentages to whole numbers (column labeled "rounding", Table 2).
The second factor of approximation to reality in the chosen sample was based on the geographic distribution of the surveyors, who
were assigned areas of action, covering the entirety of both populations and all of their neighborhoods.
Following the methodology developed by Arkin and Colton, the first approximate estimation of the sample was quantified, in which
errors of ±5% were established for both population and sample sizes for a confidence level of 95% and, in the most unfavorable
hypothesis, of the proportionality of the trait estimated p=q=50%. In view of these results, an approximate sample size was chosen,

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which was the starting figure for the fieldwork and comprised between 396 and 408 interviews. This meant 33 or 34 interviews, assigned
to each of the 12 surveyors who were selected for the data collection work.
Once the field work was completed and the information gathered was examined, it was possible to verify that a total of 413 valid
surveys had been obtained. From this data, the effective sampling error (e) was calculated using the Equation 1.
s 2 p q N − n (1)
e =
n N −1
In which:
N = total population (universe)
n = sample size
s = standard deviation (number)
p, q = proportionality of the trait being estimated.
The application of the formula to the research data produces the result e = ±4.8%. This result should be interpreted as follows: with a
sample of 413 elements—selected by a random procedure from the entire universe under study of 13,550 elements—we can ensure
with a confidence level of 95.48% that the error incorporated in the result obtained in the study of the sample is ±4.8%.
2.3 Statistical Analysis
The analysis of the data collected in the research was carried out using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (S.P.S.S.). This
computer analysis technique is especially indicated when quantitative techniques have been used in the research. When choosing
which package to use for statistical analysis, a number of factors should be considered. These include the availability of the software,
its cost, the functions it can perform, familiarity with the package, and the availability of an expert to help with the analysis. Computer
packages take time and effort to learn, and many researchers prefer to continue using a particular package once they have learned
how to use it.
3.- RESULTS
3.1. Frequency analysis
Once the data matrix has been created, the most significant characteristics of the population samples surveyed for each of the study
variables were calculated according to the program's methodology: the frequencies and percentages of the six responses offered as
possible and the main characteristics of the frequency distribution were calculated, both the so-called averages (arithmetic mean,
median and mode) and the most widely used of the so-called statistical dispersion (standard deviation).
Part 2 of the questionnaire, comprising questions 9 to 28 inclusive (Q.9 to Q.28, except Q23), are questions derived from the
preparatory work to outline the attributes of the perception of mining. They seek the opinions of the groups questioned on the influence
that the mining activity had had on fourteen very relevant aspects in the social and economic life of the community. In order to give a
clear expression to the questions, all of them were expressed in a homogeneous way.
Figure 1 gives an overview of the answers obtained. First of all, we point out the high degree of correlation between the answers
obtained in the interviews and in the field surveys. In all cases, the interviews amplify the positive or negative bias of the responses
captured by the field surveys, coinciding in all cases in the direction of the bias. All of which in turn constitutes good evidence of the
reliability and validity of the questionnaire (scale) used (cross-check questions).
Secondly, it is worth noting the high degree of appreciation given to the influence of mining in almost all the responses received, with
two exceptions. First, the influence on agriculture, where opinions are fairly balanced in one direction or the other. Second, the influence
on the environment, where the assessments are clearly negative in the surveys (60%) and very negative in the interviews (77%).

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ECONOMY
Fig. 1. Representation of the image of mining, according to methodology: surveys and interviews.
3.2. Multivariate analysis
The data obtained from the questionnaires were used for principal component analysis by means of the exploratory factor analysis
technique. This technique makes it possible to identify the number of underlying dimensions that form the perception of mining. This
made it possible to refine the initial scale, eliminating three variables that did not reach the minimum factor load (dependence or
casual relationship), or were included in more than one factor with little relevance for their definition. From the initial scale of 19
items, (from Q.9 to Q.28, except Q.23) that were posed as perception attributes, the items "influence of mining on religiosity,"
"influence of mining on enterprise associations" and "influence of mining on housing" were eliminated.
Table 2 shows the cleaned scale of sixteen variables, as well as the communalities obtained—the communality of a variable is the
proportion of its variance that can be explained by the factorial model used. By studying the communalities obtained it is assessed
which variables are better or worse explained by the model, finding out whether the relationship is statistically significant or due to
chance.

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Table 2. Communalities for the 16 variables under study

COMMUNALITIES Result
1. Influence of mining on agriculture 0,759
2. Influence of mining on the industrial sector 0,735
3. Influence of mining on the service sector 0,612
4. Influence of mining on education 0,688
5. Influence of mining on health care 0,62
6. Influence of mining on infrastructures 0,686
7. Influence of mining on public services 0,642
8. Influence of mining on environment 0,741
9. Influence of mining on leisure and quality of life 0,647
10. Influence of mining on sports 0,622
11. Influence on social services and employment 0,557
12. Perception of mining by the media 0,643
13. Perception of mineral resource exploitation by public administrations 0,691
14. Recognition of the miner's labour 0,66
15. Influence of mining on natural environment 0,69
16. Assesment of restored areas damaged by mining 0,629
In this case, the dimensions obtain a score higher than 0.5 (50% of their original variability). The best explained items are those related
to the environment and the industrial sector, i.e. "influence of mining on agriculture", "influence of mining on the environment" and
"influence of mining on the industrial sector", where the model constructed is capable of reproducing 75.9%, 74.1% and 73.5% of its
original respectively variability.
Once the dimensions have been determined, the factor analysis makes it possible to reduce the number of variables used. By
synthesizing the variables, it extracts the underlying dimensions which, once interpreted, describe the characteristics of the original
data, but with a smaller number than the initial variables. The dimensions, if wellconstructed, can thus substitute for the original
variables.
Table 3 shows that six factors – defined by those variables that exceeded a score of 0.5, as limited by the program – were obtained
from the refined 16-item scale. The total variance explained is 63.38%. The data should be interpreted regarding that the factorial
model elaborated explains 66.38% of the variance corresponding to the "construct" that has been called "perception of mining" (in the
field of social sciences, values higher than 60% are considered a very satisfactory result). The KMO tests gave a result of 0.774 and
Bartlett's test of sphericity obtained a Chi-square of 1,621.17, with a significance level of 0.000.
The factors obtained have been defined as follows: F1, Environment. All items that are related to Environment are grouped together.
A special case is that of the "influence of mining on agriculture", which obtains a factor load of 0.507, but at the same time, is also
included in F5, where variables related to economic sectors are included. Undoubtedly, this is due to the fact that agriculture, which is
a primary economic sector, is directly affected by the environment. F2, Education-Health. This is a factor that groups together variables
associated with quality of life and education. F3, Public Infrastructure. This is a clearly defined factor that will allow us to analyze the
extent to which the "Citizens Initiative" is linked to mining activity. F4, Communication. This dimension measures the communication
skills regarding mining. F5, Economy. The impact of mining on the different economic sectors. F6, Labor. Variables that refer to work
in mining.
The statistical analysis of Cronbach's Alpha was carried out regarding the reliability of the scale used. A value for the entire scale of
0.772 was obtained, which shows that, as a whole, the scale (questionnaire) is reliable.
Table 4 shows the results obtained in the statistical analysis, showing that the elimination of any of the 16 variables of the scale would
not lead to an improvement in the results obtained.

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Table 3. Factor analysis results

F1 F2 F3 F4 5 F6
Variables Public
Environmen Education- Commuicati
t Health
Infrastructu
on
Economy Labour
re
1.- Influence of mining on environment 0,84
2.- Influence of mining on natural environment 0,809
3.- Assesment of restored areas damaged by mining 0,686
4.- Influence of mining on sports 0,744
5.- Influence of mining on health care 0,727
6.- Influence of mining on education 0,647
7.- Influence of mining on leisure and quality of life 0,617
8.- Influence of mining on infrastructures 0,789
9.- Influence of mining on public services 0,708
10.- Perception of mineral resource exploitation by public administrations 0,826
11.- Perception of mining by the media 0,744
12.- Influence of mining on the industrial sector 0,689
13.- Influence of mining on agriculture 0,507 0,638
14.- Influence of mining on the service sector 0,545
15.- Recognition of the miner's labour by society 0,734
16.- Influence on social services and employment 0,552
Variance explained TOTAL = 66,386 14,264 14,079 11,59 9,212 9,21 8,031
Cronbach's alpha (Total = 0,772) 0,731 0,704 0,621 0,574 0,472 0,265
KMO: 0,774 Bartlett's test of sphericity – Chi Square: 1621,17; significance level.: 0,000
Table 4. Statistical analysis of Cronbach’s Alpha

Variance of the scale Cronbach's alpha if
Variables if the element is the element is
removed removed
1. Influence of mining on agriculture 71,771 0,753
2. Influence of mining on the industrial sector 72,039 0,753
3. Influence of mining on the service sector 73,096 0,752
4. Influence of mining on education 71,683 0,747
5. Influence of mining on health care 69,005 0,744
6. Influence of mining on infrastructures 72,179 0,754
7. Influence of mining on public services 71,452 0,745
8. Influence of mining on environment 69,664 0,749
9. Influence of mining on leisure and quality of life 69,971 0,740
10. Influence of mining on sports 71,165 0,748
11. Influence on social services and employment 71,687 0,750
12. Perception of mining by the media 70,252 0,752
13. Perception of mineral resource exploitation by public administrations
72,963 0,763
14. Recognition of the miner's labour 72,667 0,765

15. Influence of mining on natural environment 70,89 0,750
16. Assesment of restored areas damaged by mining
69,323 0,748

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In order to validate the factor analysis, we used the analysis of correlations between the different variables that make up the scale,
which were grouped according to the factors that obtained a higher coefficient. The procedure used was defined by Bagozzi, in the
sense that each dependent variable representing a given dimension should be highly correlated with those variables associated with
its structure, and not highly correlated with the variables associated with other dimensions or factors (Table 5).
It can be seen that the variables that make up F1 are closely related to each other, but they are also closely related to the variable
"influence of mining on agriculture". In F2 it can be seen that the variables are correlated with each other, but there are also
relationships of some relevance with the variables that refer to the different types of services: "influence on public services" and
"influence on the service sector". F3 has a high correlation between its variables, as well as an estimable relationship with the variable
"influence of mining on industry". F4 shows a significant correlation between its two items, with no appreciable relationship with the
rest of the variables. F5 only shows a high correlation between the variables "influence of mining on industry" and "influence of mining
on the service sector".
Table 5. Correlations between the variables of the scale grouped by factors
As an analysis of the results, it is worth highlighting that most of the factors obtained from the factor analysis are defined with the
proposed variables. The last two, and especially the last one (Labour), show some deficiency. It should be corrected by adding and
testing new items in future research.
4.- CONCLUSIONS
The high degree of correlation seen in the responses from the "interviews" and "field surveys". And the high degree of appreciation
given to the influence of mining on the most important areas of the social and economic life of the community with a history of mining
activity (the towns of Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo and Bélmez) stand out in the analysis of the responses collected.
The positive feedback of the impact of mining on community life have two exceptions: the influence on agriculture, which shows very
similar positive and negative opinions and the influence on the environment, which receives clearly negative evaluations: in the field
surveys (60%) and in the interviews (77%).
Among the data obtained, the following stand out: (a) The scarce knowledge in society about the use of minerals and their derivatives
and (b) the extraordinary personal as well as collective valuation assigned to mining in the consulted populations of the basin.
Finally, a wider knowledge of this activity is an important factor for developing opinions towards a more positive feedback of mining.
The multivariate analysis has corroborated the good quality of the questionnaire and the scale used, both in terms of reliability (degree
of confidence as an instrument for measuring reality) and validity (usefulness for measuring what it is intended to measure), which
further confirms the credibility of the methodology designed and the results obtained.
For future work, it would be advisable to apply this methodology in other mining areas with similar and different social, cultural and
economic characteristics in order to compare the results and to be able to draw extrapolate conclusions from the method designed.
Considering the valuation studied in the analysis of mining activity, future studies will experiment with the implementation of new

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technologies to revitalize those populations whose mining activity ceased due to negative social assessment. This social perception
methodology will give the perfect disposition to reuse abandoned mining structures for energy and other subsurface mining uses.
The perception study of an industry in a local environment and the application of the methodology set in this paper entails constant
and repetitive work, since different external circumstances can affect the perception of a particular industry. That is to say: since
perception is variable, this valuation methodology should be carried out periodically in order to know the evolution of the perception of
mining in the local environment.
REFERENCES
[1] Ghorbani, Yousef & Kuan, Seng How. A review of sustainable development in the Chilean mining sector: Past, present and future. International Journal of Mining,
Reclamation and Environment. (2017), 31:2, 137-165.
[2] Farjana, S. H., Huda, N., Parvez Mahmud, M. A., & Saidur, R. A review on the impact of mining and mineral processing industries through life cycle assessment.
Journal of Cleaner Production. (2019), 231, 1200-1217.
[3] Goh, E., & Effendi, S. Overview of an effective governance policy for mineral resource sustainability in Malaysi. Resources Policy. (2017), 52, 1-6.
[4] Prno, J., & Slocombe, D. Exploring the origins of 'social license to operate' in the mining sector: Perspectives from governance and sustainability theories.
Resources Policy. (2012), 346-257.
[5] Fraser, J. Mining companies and communities: collaborative approaches to reduce social risk and advance sustainable development. Resources Policy. (2021),
74, 101144.
[6] Lodhia, S., & Hess, N. Sustainability accounting and reporting in the mining industry: current literature and directions for future research. Journal of Cleaner
Production. (2014), 84, 43-50.
[7] Rodríguez-Díaz, Manuel. Determinación de la imagen de los centros comerciales. Información Comercial Española, ICE: Revista de economía. (2004), 815, 241-
260.
[8] Román, J.S. (1997). Introducción a la tradición clásica de la opinión pública. Tecnos, Madrid.
[9] García, M.C. & Berzanga, R. (2005). El método científico aplicado a la investigación en Comunicación Mediática. En Berganza, R. y Ruiz, J.A. (Coords.), Investigar
en Comunicación. Guía práctica de métodos y técnicas de investigación social en Comunicación (pp. 19-42). McGraw-Hill Education.
[10] Batrinca, B., & Treleaven, P.C. Social media analytics: a survey of techniques, tools and platforms. AI & SOCIETY. (2015), 30, 89-116.
ACKNOWLEDGE
The authors of this work would like to thank María García-Abadillo for her contribution as translator, proof-reader, and editor of the
text.


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SECTORAL

SOCIAL PERCEPTION OF MINING: A METHOD STUDY

SOCIAL PERCEPTION OF MINING: A METHOD STUDY

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain)

2.- MATERIALS AND METHODS

Publicaciones DYNA SL -- c) Mazarredo nº69 - 2º -- 48009-BILBAO (SPAIN) Pag. 1 / 8

Table 1. Sample selected from a broad spectrum of professions and activities

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Table 2. Communalities for the 16 variables under study

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Table 3. Factor analysis results

Table 4. Statistical analysis of Cronbach’s Alpha

14. Recognition of the miner's labour 72,667 0,765

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Table 5. Correlations between the variables of the scale grouped by factors

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