Who really grants a mining project its license to operate? Often not the government, but the community next door. In this episode of On the Ground: Geopolitics and Business, Georg Dufner and Thomas Schiller speak with Indigenous relations advisor Jay Hartling about why Indigenous affairs are a hard business factor, not a soft one. In Latin America, more than 70 percent of all mineral mining sites are located on or near indigenous lands. This often creates friction due to the lack of inclusion of indigenous people in decision-making processes, which translates into a major problem for businesses, too. Peru shows the stakes. The Tía María copper project stalled for more than ten years after deadly protests, while Cerro Verde in the same Arequipa region kept operating. What separates success from failure on the ground? Our topics Where the duty to obtain free, prior and informed consent comes from and how it evolvedHow risk mitigation through Indigenous relations pays offWhy critical minerals, geopolitics and Indigenous lands increasingly collideHow to open a first conversation, deal with rejection and negotiate agreementsHow community relations differ from classic corporate citizenshipWe spoke about these subjects with Jay Hartling, an Indigenous relations advisor based in Victoria, British Columbia. For more than 25 years, she has worked with Indigenous peoples in Canada, the United States, and Latin America, across mining, oil and gas, hydro, and renewable energy. Until April 2026, she led Indigenous engagement for large publicly traded mining company in the United States, putting the company’s global policies on free, prior and informed consent into practice. Today she advises mining companies and First Nations and indigenous communities through her own consultancy. Trained in Latin American studies, public administration, and corporate social responsibility, she works in English and Spanish and has negotiated everything from good neighbor to impact benefit agreements.
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