Unlik e ec onomic metrics such as living s tandar ds the socioec onomic impact of mining on c ommunities is not eas y t o measur e and the indus try is c onscious tha t the curr ent e xpenditur e on SLPs and LED has not nec es sarily r esult ed in the de v elopmental out c omes tha t ar e per c eiv ed as being optimal As a r esult ther e is oft en a gr ea t deal of disc ont ent and frus tr a tion e xpr es sed b y s tak eholders thr ough pr ot es ts and other disruptiv e f orms of demons tr a tion dir ect ed a t mining oper a tions T he mining indus try has pr oactiv ely r eact ed t o the s ta tus quo by es tablishing tw o r egional ofc es one in Mpumalanga and the other in the Northern Cape t o pilot gr ea t er c oor dina tion and c onsolida tion of ef orts in these endea v ours T hese pilot pr ojects ar e r eport ed on in mor e detail in F os t ering c ollabor a tion and partnershi p on page 58 In addition the Miner als C ouncil is championing and c oor dina ting c ollabor a tion in the F ar Eas t ern Limb Limpopo and Mpumalanga t o a tt empt t o r esolv e v arious is sues tha t c ommunities local and pr o vincial go v ernment authorities and mining oper a tions ha v e r aised Plans t o es tablish an inclusiv e multi s tak eholder engagement f orum ar e a t an adv anc ed s tage PROMO TING L OCAL EC ONOMIC AND C OMMUNITY DEVEL OPMENT T he South A frican mining indus try c ontinues t o mak e a signifcant c ontribution t o GDP dir ect and indir ect emplo yment and the na tional fscus and supports ups tr eam and do wns tr eam indus trialisa tion ef orts A detailed description of this c ontribution can be f ound in Ho w mining c ontribut es t o South A frica o n page 9 On the socioec onomic de v elopment fr ont mining c ompanies de v elop and implement social and labour plans SLPs and local ec onomic de v elopment LED initia tiv es tha t r ela t e t o skills and ent erprise de v elopment It is es tima t ed tha t the indus try spends mor e than R15 billion a y ear on de v elopment f ocused activities Mining c ompanies de v elop and implement SLPs which include LED initia tiv es tha t r ela t e t o skills and ent erprise de v elopment It is es tima t ed tha t the indus try spends mor e than R15 billion a y ear on de v elopmentf ocused activities DEVEL OPMENT S S tr a t egic Goal 3 V edanta Zinc Int erna tional Black Mountain Mining P age 7 8