The Changing Face of Mining: Mapping Your Impact
What if mining started with a map, not a model? In this episode of The Changing Face of Mining, Peggy Bell and Allison Coppel uncover how defining your “neighbourhood” can transform community relationships, build trust, and create people-first mining projects that succeed because of values, not just resources.
By Peggy
Leadership in mining is often defined by technology, economics, and environmental performance. Yet the success of any mining project depends on something more human. It depends on how well a company understands the communities it touches.
In the latest Changing Face of Mining conversation, I sat down with Allison Coppel, founder and CEO of Pacha Associates, to explore how companies can transform community engagement. Allison’s work is grounded in a simple but powerful idea. Before you can build trust, you need to know where you stand.
After nearly two decades in global mining leadership, Allison founded Pacha Associates to help companies strengthen relationships through practical, people-centered systems. Her approach begins with a map.
“The first thing I tell teams is to pull out a map,” Allison explained. “Not a geological map, but a people map. Figure out your neighborhood. Understand who’s in and who’s out, and why.”
That exercise reveals how each team defines community. It also shows how easily misalignment can happen when companies move too quickly into exploration without taking the time to listen.
For Allison, mapping is both a mindset and a management system. It helps companies move beyond compliance to a genuine connection. It defines their social area of influence and creates a process to revisit it as projects evolve.
We also discussed what it would look like to design an exploration company from the ground up with people at the center. Allison believes the industry’s next major transformation will come from leaders who start with values instead of output.
“Projects do not fail because of the rocks,” she said. “They fail because of people. Investors may think they are buying into resources, but what they are really betting on is trust in the team and how they operate.”
That trust extends to everyone connected to a project, from local businesses to regulators to employees. Consistency in how a company behaves defines both its reputation and its relationships.
“Your brand is how you show up,” Allison said. “It is the experience people have with you. When that experience is transparent and fair, trust grows naturally.”
Our conversation connected brand, community, and leadership into one idea. Mining’s social performance is not a department. It is a culture. When companies lead with curiosity, clarity, and consistency, they create long-term relationships that support both communities and investment.
Watch the full conversation below to explore how mapping, listening, and leading with people first can reshape the way we define success in mining.
🎥 Watch the full conversation: The Changing Face of Mining: Map Your Impact
