CaseStudy: Personalized Strategic Outreach and Grassroots Effort Turn the Public Tide in Support of a Copper Mine

At a U.S. Forest Service public hearing on the Rosemont Copper Mine, supporters show their support by wearing “green thumbs,” signifying the mining company’s focus on good environmental practices.

Company: Rosemont Copper Company

Agency: Davies Public Affairs

Timeframe: Jan. 2009 - Present

“Nobody wants this copper mine.” That was the prevailing wisdom in Pima County, Ariz., when Rosemont Copper Company, a division of base metals company Augusta Resource Corp., proposed an open pit copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains near Tucson.

Opposition was threatening to undermine the federal, state, and local public review and permitting process. If Augusta Resource couldn’t demonstrate public support for their proposed Rosemont Copper project, it would be difficult to overcome opposition and secure county, state, and federal approvals. As Augusta Resource’s only mining asset, failing to win U.S. Forest Service (USFS) approval would have a significant negative impact on the company.

Before Santa Monica, Calif.-based Davies Public Affairs came on board the project in 2009, Rosemont Copper spent three years working to build local support. While communications inroads were made during that time by local PR agencies, “their outreach was more informational,” says Kathy Arnold, VP, environmental and regulatory affairs for Rosemont Copper Company. “It was missing the ‘Why we should say yes’ equation.” Outreach with more bite was clearly needed.

As opposition to the project grew, the USFS mandated that 10 public hearings be held during a three-month period. Since the USFS had the final say on the mine’s permit, it was critical to demonstrate the significant public support that Rosemont enjoyed following a transparent and powerful outreach at these public hearings.

So Davies Public Affairs was hired to design and execute a comprehensive strategic communication and grassroots program that targeted the 50,000 residents of Pima County. “We needed to tell bigger stories about the mine,” Arnold says.

MINING FOR DATA

Extensive research would help to identify the most effective messaging. This was segmented into four areas:

1. Qualitative interviews were conducted with more than 50 local thought leaders and residents to provide insight into the local psyche, community values and concerns relating to the copper mine. “We spoke to people for over an hour, asking them questions like ‘why do you like living here?’ and ‘what have you heard about mining projects?’” says John Davies, CEO of Davies Public Affairs. The answers would allow Davies to create targeted messages that resonated and activated key supporters to take action and get involved.

2. Polling was conducted to narrow the target audience and work out which supporters would be more likely to support the project.

3. State-wide data mining was conducted to build a database of 50,000 residents organized by various groups and demographics. From this list, Davies could identify political contributors, high-propensity voters and influential residents in Pima County whose voices would resonate strongly with regulatory and elected officials.

4. With insight from the qualitative interviews, blind ID calls were conducted with a short phone script to identify likely supporters and eliminate opposition from direct mail targets.

AYES HAVE IT

From the research stemmed the campaign’s objectives. The over-arching goal was to win a timely approval for the copper mine. To accomplish that goal, Davies strived to:

• Create a strong brand with a compelling and transparent message focused upon sustainable mining and economic return.

• Identify and recruit an army of supporters that could play an active role in the approval process.

• Leverage the strong public support to influence regulators and the permitting process and overcome the perception of opposition

• Place Rosemont in an offensive position, rather than defensive.

• Ensure the agenda of debate included Rosemont’s unique benefits and approach to mining—from the demand for copper in renewable energy and electric cars, to the environmentally sensitive approach to mining Rosemont proposed.

The strategy, Davies says, was to recruit enough motivated, well-educated supporters to overcome and outnumber the opposition at every hearing and in communications with decision makers. “People are either leaning your way or are leaning against you, while the rest are overwhelmed with life and won’t take the time to figure out which side they’re on,” Davies say. “Without doing anything, public opinion tends to go against you.”

Research was uncovered that, despite numerous well-paying jobs and millions of dollars of tax revenue the new mine would bring, residents were not willing to compromise on the environment. Says Arnold: “[At hearings] we can talk for 20 minutes and then people stand up and say, ‘they’re going to tear up the earth and it will be ugly.’ It’s tough to combat that.”

So the messaging needed to stress strict environmental controls, modern mining technology, and the economic contributions the mine would make to Pima County.

BUILDING A BRIDGE

Using the research findings, Davies designed a strategic communication program that positioned the proposed copper mine as “A Bridge to a Sustainable Future.” To make copper relevant to everyone on some level, it was critical that the communications materials reflect how copper is used in our everyday life.

A key message point: “Almost everything in our daily lives is affected by copper.”

TARGETING RESIDENTS

Davies designed and launched an outreach program that ultimately targeted 50,000 residents in targeted communities in and around Tucson.

The fully integrated PR program included the following:

â–¶ Fact Booklet/Letter/Phone Call: A project fact booklet told the mine’s story, and included a letter and a pre-paid comment card. Davies currently sends quarterly letter updates to more than 12,000 supporter households throughout Arizona.

â–¶ Website/Social Media: Completely overhauled in August 2012, the website (www.RosemontCopper.com) provides the community with information about the proposed mine, environmental impact reports, process animations, as well as the ability to sign up to support, attend events, mine tours or ask questions. Website images and videos are shared via Rosemont-hosted social media accounts, including Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, YouTube and Vimeo.

â–¶ USFS Letter Writing Program: Davies secured 1,000 letter signers and executed a massive personal letter writing campaign to regulatory officials and the media to convey widespread support for the copper mine.

â–¶ Supporter Activation for USFS Public Hearings: The USFS ultimately mandated that there would be eight public hearings on the Rosemont Copper Mine during a two-month period in late 2011. Davies targeted 8,000 individuals in the database and secured 1,500 individuals willing to attend public hearings.

3 TO 1 SWING

Davies’ efforts changed the debate in favor of the copper mine. Polling showed that the strategic communication and grassroots program completely turned public opinion from three to one against the proposed mine, to three to one in favor of the mine. Specific results include:

• Identified 13,500 supporter households. This base continues to grow by an average of 150 supporters a month.

• Letter writing campaign netted more than 25,000 original letters to the USFS, the Governor of Arizona, the state’s two U.S. Senators and targeted members of Congress.

• Organized a rally with more than 6,000 supporters.

• Activated more than 500 supporters for every USFS public hearing—speakers for the mine outnumbered opponents five to one.

• Media coverage at every public hearing conveyed overwhelming public support for the mine. One local paper reported that mine opponents “took a thrashing” at one of the USFS hearings.

Right now Rosemont Copper is waiting for final approvals for the mine, which could come late in the first quarter this year. To keep up the momentum, the company gives regular tours of the site—and is booked solid for three months in advance, Arnold says.

Davies Public Affairs’ ability to win a majority of support for the mine has also made Arnold’s job in Arizona a bit easier.

“It’s tough to be the lone voice in the wilderness, and you don’t want your supporters to be Rosemont employees—you want them to be the person in town who owns the grocery store,” Arnold says. PRN

CONTACT:

John Davies, @daviesPA; Kathy Arnold, [email protected]; Heather-Ann MacLean, @MacLeanHeather.