Local experiences with mining royalties, company and the state in the Solomon Islands

Royalties, rents and other material benefits from mining ventures have been of interest to development discussions. These benefits are important to all stakeholders but the first mining agreement in the Solomon Islands only accommodated a tiny percentage of the gross value of gold and silver produced as the mining lease to landowning groups. The questions that led me to the Gold Ridge mine and surrounding communities on Guadalcanal in 2007 and 2010 are: (i) Can royalties from the mine be sustainable agents to improve people’s livelihoods? (ii) To what extent have royalty payments, licence fees and rents from mines impacted on local Solomon Islanders’ lives? (iii) How do mining agreements and courts of law do or do not safeguard local social capital and the environment? In analysing the data, the processes of negotiating mining agreements; movement and resettlement of people; livelihood and gendered opportunities offered by the mine; and the state’s role in the mine are discussed in this paper. Moreover, the paper responds to the three questions above and assesses the sustainability of mining royalties and the role of the modern state and processes in the Solomon Islands mining sector.