What the KGHM Ajax Perception Audit says

Here is the bulk of the  “KGHM Ajax Perception Audit” released by KGHM Ajax this week:

Survey Methodology

NRG Research Group conducted telephone interviews for the KGHM Ajax Perception Audit between August 22 and September 6, 2011 and again between April 27 and April 30, 2012. For both waves, interviews were conducted among 385 residents from the City of Kamloops. As this study was designed for the purposes of tracking residents’ perceptions of the proposed mine project over time, the survey instrument remained very similar to 2011. Each wave of results carries an overall maximum margin of error of +-5.0% at the 95% level of confidence.

The survey was conducted among residents who are aged 18 years or older using a random digital (RDD) sample source. Quotas were set to ensure that respondents represented the overall population base of each community. To account for over-sampling of certain demographic groups, the results are weighted to reflect the population by age and gender according to the Census. The tables below detail the weighting for wave 2

Census Population Distribution

Men, 18-34 (14%), Men, 35-54 (19%), Men, 55+ (16%), Women, 18-34 (14%), Women, 35-54 (20%), Women, 55+ (17%)

Wave 2 Raw Survey Competes Distribution

Men, 18-34 (11%), Men, 35-54 (20%), Men, 55+ (17%), Women, 18-34 (6%), Women, 35-54 (24%), Women, 55+ (21%)

Wave 2 Weights

Men, 18-34 (1.18), Men, 35-54 (.94), Men, 55+ (0.94) Women, 18-34 (2.25), Women, 35-54 (0.83), Women, 55+ (0.83)

Awareness of proposed Ajax mine project

– Overall awareness of the proposed Ajax mine project has significantly increased between September 20122 and April 2012, (up from 82% to 96%).

– Consistent with wave 1, residents aged 55 plus are more likely to have heard of the project than their younger counterparts. In fact, 99% of those 55+ have heard about it compared to only 96% of 35-54 year olds and 92% of 18-34 year olds.

Support for the proposed Ajax mine project

– Just over half (52%) of area residents have positive feelings toward the proposed Ajax mine project in April 2012. This is consistent with total approval levels seen in September 201l. However, the proportion of residents strongly in favour has increased from 13% in wave 1 to 19% in wave 2. Similar levels of disapproval can be observed in both wave 2 and wave 1.

– In wave 1 males were significantly more likely to approve of the project than females (60% vs. 40%). In contrast to this, wave 2 has very similar approval levels among both and males and females (53% vs. 49%).

– Other groups more likely to approve of the proposed project in wave 2 include those with a high school/trade education (59% vs. 48% among university-educated residents) and those with mining connections (59% vs. 43% of those not connected to the industry).

ARMCHAIR MAYOR’S NOTE: The question “Overall, on a scale of 1 to 7 with 1 being ‘Completely disapprove,’ and 7 being ‘Completely Approve’, how would you feel about the Ajax mine project based on the information you have? Yielded these results, according to the NRG summary:

Wave 2: 19 per cent completely approve (7), 15% 6, 18% 5, 18% 4, 11% 3, 11% 2, 6% 2, 11% 1 completely disapprove.

Wave 2: 13% completely approve (7), 15% 6, 22% 5, 19% 4, 11% 3, 7% 2, 11% 1 completely disapprove.

Back to the summary:

Importance of types of information to provide

– As seen in wave 1, it is essential that a wide range of information on the proposed Ajax mine site be made available to area residents.

– The “Environmental impact’, ‘Community health and safety impact’, ‘Potential mine location’, and ‘Potential employment’ are the key types of information area residents believe should be made available. Information on ‘First-nation participation’, ‘Community transportation impact’ and ‘Proposed hours of operation’ are seen as relatively less important types of information to have available.

ARMCHAIR MAYOR’S NOTE: The question, “When thinking about the Ajax mine, how important is it that information be available on each of the following? Please use a scale of 1 to 7 where 1 is “Not important’ and 7 is ‘Very Important’,” resulted in a ranking in the following order:

Environmental impact

Health and safety of employees

Community health and safety impact

Potential mine location

Potential employment

Potential tax revenue for the city

Potential for local businesses

Proposed hours of operation

Community transportation impact

First Nation participation

Back to the NRG report:

Summary

Overall awareness of the proposed Ajax mine project has significantly increased between September 2011 and April 2012. The vast majority of Kamloops residents (96%) are now aware of the project.

Just over half (52%) have positive feelings toward the proposed Ajax mine project, while 46% somewhat or strongly disapprove. However, the proportion of residents strongly in favour (rating 7 out of 7) has increased from 13% in wave 1 to 19% in wave 2.

Regardless of mine approval, the provision of information on ‘Health and safety of employees’, the Environmental Impact’ and ‘Community health and safety impact’ are considered the most important to area residents. This is consistent with wave 1 results.