Positive peace and sustainability in the mining context: Beyond the triple bottom line

The last fifteen years has seen an increase in scholarship about how large multi-national corporations can contribute to local and global conditions of peace as an outcome of their business activities. Mining companies, however, have not often been included in these discussions. There has been a greater focus on preventing physically violent conflict or war in relation to mining. Instead of focussing on violent conflict associated with minerals extraction, this paper expands the platform for dialogue about business and peace as specifically related to minerals operations. Since most mining related conflicts are not physically violent in nature, the paper takes the position that those conflicts might be resolved more effectively for all stakeholders by including 'sustainable, positive peace' as a sustainable development goal. Towards that end, it is suggested that that peacebuilding methods of conflict transformation have potential to optimise conditions necessary for sustainable peace in the mining companyecommunity space to enhance Triple Bottom Line outcomes: Economic, environment and social.