Decarbonising Mining: Practical Approaches Within the Mining Lifecycle
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is becoming an increasingly important consideration for mining companies.
To support understanding of decarbonisation opportunities, SRK developed the Green Mining Interactive Infographic, which explores how mining operations can reduce greenhouse gas emissions through various technologies, energy management approaches, and decarbonisation strategies.
Click to explore the Green Mining Interactive Infographic
The infographic highlights topics relevant to different stages of the mining lifecycle, including greenhouse gas emissions management, climate-related risk assessment, and technologies that may help reduce operational emissions. Addressing these issues influences decision making across mining operations and draws on expertise from a range of technical disciplines across SRK.
As sustainability expectations and reporting requirements continue to evolve, mining companies are evaluating how environmental performance and responsible mining practices influence project development, investment decisions, and market access. A recent SRK article discusses these trends in the context of Australia’s critical minerals sector.
Unlocking Opportunity through the Australia-EU Trade Agreement
Carbon Accounting
Carbon accounting helps organisations measure and manage greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and identify opportunities for mitigation, supporting sustainability objectives and informed decision making. Quantifying emissions from organisations, products, or services provides a basis for reducing carbon footprints, complying with regulatory requirements and improving sustainability reporting.
Carbon accounting supports alignment with frameworks and reporting requirements such as the GHG Protocol, Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
As carbon reporting requirements evolve, mining companies are evaluating how emissions data can support both compliance obligations and operational decision making. A recent SRK article explores how carbon budgets are influencing emissions reduction planning and investment decisions.
Carbon Budgets Raise Urgency of Company Plans to Reduce Emissions
By identifying inefficiencies, organisations can reduce energy use and operational costs while supporting the development of decarbonisation and climate action plans.
Learn more about Carbon Accounting →
Climate Change
Managing climate-related risks is becoming an important consideration for mining operations.
These risks can influence operational decisions, including water management and infrastructure planning. The article below looks at how mining operations are adapting water engineering approaches in response to changing climate conditions.
Mines Review Water Engineering As Climate Change Advances
Climate change strategies often draw on interdisciplinary environmental and social science expertise and are implemented in accordance with national and international policies.
Managing, analysing, and interpreting climate-related data supports informed decisions on both mitigation measures and adaptation responses. Climate change assessments and management studies, greenhouse gas assessments, carbon accounting, rapid vulnerability assessments, and response policy planning and implementation strategies can help organisations understand and manage climate-related risks.
Learn more about Climate Change →
Electrification of Haulage
Electrification technologies can support the reduction of emissions from mine haulage through trolley assist, battery-electric trucks, crushing and conveying systems, or a combination of approaches.
As mining companies evaluate different decarbonisation pathways, understanding the trade-offs between available haulage technologies is becoming increasingly important. The article below outlines practical approaches to evaluating electrification options for mine haulage.
Which Way to Turn? A Practical Guide to Evaluating Electrification Options in Mine Haulage
Equipment trade-off studies can be used to evaluate energy alternatives for reducing or replacing diesel consumption and designing operations that work with available technologies while leveraging access to renewable power and supporting infrastructure.
Trolley assist enhances truck performance by supplying up to 80% more power for uphill hauls, which can reduce cycle times and help offset capital costs associated with installation. This system can be integrated with battery-electric trucks as part of a broader mine electrification strategy.
Operations can also be evaluated to assess the benefits of integrating crushing and conveying systems, including high-angle conveying solutions, and to understand the implications for operational flexibility, energy consumption, and project economics.
Learn more about Electrification of Haulage →
For further insights, explore SRK’s Decarbonisation Resources page, which brings together articles, videos, and technical resources covering decarbonisation, energy transition, and related topics relevant to different stages of the mining lifecycle.