Land Ownership
Resource Mining Corporation respects the land ownership structure of the communities in which we operate.
The right to use land for gardening, harvesting trees, trapping, collecting firewood and gathering wild products may be transferred to other families on an item-by-item or activity-by-activity basis. One family may allow another to trap animals in an area of traditional ownership but not allow the collecting of firewood for example.
Some of these rights date back to antiquity but are not fixed and may be transferred through intermarriage, adoption or agreement. Intertribal warfare also resulted in transfers as a result of conquest.
There are no written records of the transfers or claims to land ownership. The rights are recorded in memory and are recanted orally usually by senior tribesmen. Boundaries are not surveyed but reference is often made to significant landmarks as identification of boundary areas.
Exploration or mining companies such as Resource Mining Corporation seeking to work in the area need to reach agreement through open dialogue with the various village landowner groups. The concept of Mutual Benefit has seen a higher degree of co-operation develop between the parties.
Resource Mining Corporation believes in the concept of developing a social licence to operate in the region and aims to develop strong relationships with local stakeholders.
You can read about our tree survey in our first edition of our newsletter Tok Tok or listen to a podcast with Managing Director Warwick Davies.