Affective Mining: The Emotional Narrative around Social Consent for the Corani Mining Project in Puno, Peru

Abstract

In 2018, the Canadian Bear Creek Mining Corporation (BCMC) obtained from the local rural population the social license to operate (SLO) the Corani mining project in the Southern Peruvian region of Puno. This was a major achievement, given the history of negative perceptions about mining in the area and the background of socio-environmental conflicts to large-scale mining projects in Peru. This research adopts the affective approach to explore the emotional content in the mining company’s discourse to achieve the SLO. I argue that BCMC subtly yet effectively manipulates emotions as one of the main strategies contributing to securing the SLO. The findings show that BCMC invokes positive feelings such as self-esteem, pride, prestige, love, and uniqueness as part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) actions, aiming to engage with community members. The strategic use of these emotions can be understood as a way to diminish local opposition to the mining project.