While employed by Wardell Armstrong International, Pete Whitbread-Abrutat participated in socio-economic baseline data gathering in and around the remote Akbakai gold mining complex, owned by JSC Altynalmas, in southern Kazakhstan. This included household interviews, one-on-one interviews with local businesses, a public participatory workshop, consultations with mine staff, and data gathering from local and regional authorities, with the aim of building a detailed understanding of the socio-economic situation prior to the expansion of the mine.
An important aspect of the work was the consideration of community development activities, based on the above, towards the production of a community development plan as part of an environmental and social impact assessment carried out to international standards