Objective: To have measures in place which support the social and economic advancement and capacity building of communities whose lives are affected by exploration activities while respecting the communities� own vision of development.  

Introduction
It is generally accepted practice within the mineral industry that local populations should benefit from mining related activities that impact them or take place in the immediate vicinity in ways that contribute to the economic development and social wellbeing of the community.  Further, in a number of countries it is a specific requirement that indigenous peoples benefit from activities that take place on their traditional lands under the provision of national law or international conventions such as ILO 169 ^[1]. Community benefits will vary according to the stage of exploration and level of investment by the explorer, with the employment of local people and purchase of local services and supplies the most frequent form of benefit.  Explorers are advised, however, to take care not to create unrealistic expectations or situations where the provision of benefits results in dependency in the form of ongoing obligations or expenses incurred by the beneficiary, or that require the ongoing presence of the company.  In practice, there is often a need to find a balance between responding to a demand for delivery of short term benefits that may not be truly sustainable and providing contributions that will survive beyond the life of an exploration project.