Tag Archives: ESG

CEEC prepares for next chapter in growth with personnel changes

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The Coalition for Eco Efficient Comminution (CEEC) has announced several major changes in its governance and operation, with CEO, Alison Keogh (right), stepping down, Janine Herzig (left) joining CEEC as Executive President and Board Director and Marc Allen taking over from Michael Battersby as Chair.

After six years of working as CEO to promote CEEC, Keogh has decided to step down from the position, and to welcome in new leadership for CEEC’s next chapter, CEEC said, adding that it will make an announcement shortly about the appointment of additional operational staff and Directors.

Keogh says she is proud to have been an early mover to help industry share critical knowledge on installing renewables and progressing net zero emissions approaches. She grew the group’s global reach, led international workshops across three continents and developed free webinars and podcasts to reach more people, CEEC said. She also initiated CEEC’s first workshop on Water Curves in North America and helped raise awareness of how important comminution and processing are to reduce energy, emissions and water footprint across mining worldwide.

More recently, she steered CEEC through the global pandemic and oversaw the organisation’s 10-year anniversary milestone in 2021.

“I am honoured to have led CEEC, which helps industry share practical solutions and innovative advances that are so important for the sustainable minerals needed for our world’s future,” she said. “Collaboration is vital to accelerate the world’s transition to net zero emissions. CEEC brings leaders and innovators together to share knowledge of cutting-edge processing to reduce mining’s footprint.

“I look forward to CEEC’s next chapter led by Marc Allen and Janine Herzig and encourage visionary leaders to contribute to this inspirational and global group.”

CEEC’s Board of Directors has undertaken a strategic review to consider the ever increasing environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements of the resources sector. The outcome of this analysis is that CEEC has created the role of Executive President and has brought in Janine Herzig in this position.

Herzig is a Director of MetVal Consulting Pty Ltd, Convenor of the MetPlant Conference Series, former Non-Executive Director of Base Resources Ltd and former Director and Immediate Past President of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM). She has over 30 years’ experience in the resources sector, across multiple commodities; starting her professional career as a graduate metallurgist in Mount Isa and later working in various operational and project roles across on numerous sites, including 10 years with Iluka Resources.

As General Manager – Minerals and Industrial, with Amdel, she then led a major expansion and transformation of the company, which then became Bureau Veritas.

A Fellow and Chartered Professional (Metallurgy) of the AusIMM, Herzig is currently the Chair of the AusIMM ESG Board Advisory Group, Chair of the AusIMM International Advisory Forum, and Chair of the AusIMM Awards Committee Highest Honour Panel. She is also Co-Chair of the Global Mineral Professionals Alliance (GMPA) and its Global Action on Tailings (GAT) initiative.

Herzig is also a member of the Steering Committee for the NExUS program, the Advisory Board for the ARC Training Centre for Integrated Operations for Complex Resources, presenter for the AusIMM Professional Certificate in ESG and Social Responsibility and is on the Advisory Board of the Australian Society for Off-Earth Construction (ASOC) which operates out of the Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources.

“I am delighted to assume this comprehensive leadership role with CEEC, having been a CEEC Advocate for the past two years,” she said. “It allows me to combine my passions for mineral processing, ESG initiatives, technical excellence and giving back to an industry that I love.”

CEEC’s Board has appointed Marc Allen as Chair of CEEC, taking over from Michael Battersby.

Allen is an energy and emissions expert who joined the CEEC Board as a Director in 2019. He is the Technical Director at engeco, a Singapore-based consultancy providing advisory services primarily in energy and greenhouse gas management and strategy, as well as broader sustainability, across Australasia.

He has over 20 years’ experience in a variety of operational and consulting roles with INPEX, Energetics, Simulus and BOC. His experience has focused on sustainability, process engineering, carbon management and energy efficiency to enable the transition to a low-carbon economy through development and implementation of robust strategies for greenhouse gas and energy management. He has published several papers on renewable energy, energy efficiency and carbon pricing, and holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) degree from the Curtin University of Technology. He is also a mentor for the Curtin Next Step mentoring program.

Outgoing Chair, Michael Battersby, welcomed Allen to the position: “I have been honoured to hold the position of Chair of CEEC for the last four years. However, renewal is always beneficial. I will join Joe Pease in becoming a past Chair and will continue as a Director.

“Having worked with Marc Allen during my time as Chair, I know he will lead CEEC to new heights in the coming years.”

Allen commented: “I have been involved with CEEC since 2018 and am very much looking forward to fulfilling the role of Chair and working to continue our mission to maximize energy efficiency across the minerals processing industry. I’m appreciative of the leadership shown by both Joe Pease and Michael Battersby during my time at CEEC so far and hope to continue to work with them closely while they remain on the board.”

CEEC will be announcing additional changes to prepare for the next evolution of the organisation and its growth and expansion. These include an increased focus on net zero, decarbonisation and ESG, finalisation of the Water Curves project, the release of new ‘Spotlight Leader Conversations’ video interviews and more episodes of the new ‘CEECing Change’ podcast.

The winners of the 2021 CEEC Medals were announced on June 21 and will be officially awarded by President, Janine Herzig, at the upcoming IMPC-APAC Conference in Melbourne in August.

ERG looks at green hydrogen, wind, solar power as part of decarbonisation efforts

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Eurasian Resources Group is exploring the potential use of green hydrogen in its calcination kilns, as well as installing a portfolio of wind and solar power plants with an up to 6 GW capacity as part of its decarbonisation plans, according to Dr Alexander Machkevitch, Chairman of the Board of Directors.

During the plenary session of the Council for Foreign Affairs under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, titled, ‘Decarbonisation of the economy: Implementation of low-carbon technologies to identify environmental, social and governance settings (ESG),’ Dr Machkevitch, shared ERG’s ambitious plans to decarbonise its operations, including those with a focus on green hydrogen and renewable energy generation.

These efforts form an important part of the group’s ESG strategy and support Kazakhstan’s own national decarbonisation targets, it says.

Dr Machkevitch said: “Our environmental strategy includes around 40 projects across the group, embracing the development and application of new technological solutions such as the unique hybrid filter technology implemented at our plants together with thyssenkrupp. At ERG, we are exploring to replace fossil fuel oil in calcination kilns with green hydrogen, which can eliminate 100% of direct greenhouse gas emissions in this technological process. The group also plans to develop a portfolio of wind and solar electric power plants with total capacity of up to 6 GW.”

The group’s ESG 2030 goals include specific targets for reducing particulate emissions, waste and water use, with the three priorities being the reduction of particulate emissions by two-fold, the reduction of water consumption by a third, and the prevention of more than 2 Mt/y of CO2 emissions through the use of renewable energy sources. These activities will cost around $1.6 billion.

ERG’s decarbonisation commitments will significantly support national climate targets, it says. Kazakhstan plans to reduce national GHG emissions by 1.5% a year between 2022 and 2025, achieve a 15% reduction by 2030 and seek carbon neutrality in 2060.

Maptek invests in ESG-focused K2fly

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Maptek has announced a strategic investment in Western Australian-based K2fly, a leading provider of resource governance solutions for net positive impact in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) compliance, disclosure and technical assurance, it said.

K2fly solutions aim to improve the transparency, sustainability and performance across a range of measures such as governance, environmental and community engagement through its platform-based SaaS cloud reporting solutions, Maptek says.

As part of the investment Maptek Chairman, Peter Johnson, will join the K2fly board as a Non-Executive Director.

“Maptek is very pleased with the opportunity to become a strategic investor in K2fly,” Johnson said. “We have a long and successful history of delivering technical solutions that increase the accuracy, safety and efficiency of decision-making for miners.

“K2fly solutions complement our approach, enabling our customers to interact with all stakeholders including local communities, traditional owners, the investment community, regulators and the environment in an improved fashion.

 “They do this by leveraging technology to ensure the ESG and reporting expectations of the community are met, as well as providing a sustainable platform for enhancement.

“K2fly is the leader in the field of creating and delivering the technology solutions to enable that, and sharing our expertise is the ideal way for Maptek to support that effort.”

Jenny Cutri, Non-Executive Chair of K2fly, welcomed Maptek as a strategic investor in K2fly and Johnson to the K2fly Board.

“The investment by Maptek makes it K2fly’s largest investor and represents a significant validation of the K2fly business and growth outlook by the world’s largest privately held mining software business,” Cutri said.

“On behalf of K2fly and the Board, we very much look forward to working with Peter and Maptek as we continue to grow the K2fly business.

”Peter’s wealth of knowledge in applying and scaling innovative technological solutions in the mining sector into sustainable and profitable businesses will be invaluable to K2fly. Further, our solutions are adjacent and there are many opportunities for collaboration.”

Repair, Reuse, Recycle: ERG’s critical minerals reprocessing journey

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The Musonoi River Valley in the Katanga region in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has, for some decades, been the site of land degradation resulting from inadequate and ineffective tailings and other waste management systems.

The local water system and surrounding land has been subjected to pollution from more than 83.2 Mt of legacy tailings spread over an area 11-km long and up to 2.5-km wide. Additionally, 41.1 Mt of tailings have accumulated at the Kingamyambo Tailings Dam.

Remediating and mitigating this damage is now a primary goal of Eurasian Resources Group’s Metalkol Roan Tailings Reclamation (RTR), a reprocessing facility dedicated to cleaning up the historic tailings left by previous mining operators in the Kolwezi area of the DRC. By reclaiming and reprocessing copper and cobalt tailings in the region, the company says its approach goes beyond ‘do no harm’, actively addressing a history of environmental degradation and pollution.

The legacy tailings are extracted through hydraulic mining and dredging, reprocessed and then re-deposited into a modern, closely managed and centralised tailings storage facility. This is subject to regular inspection, monitoring and reporting, supported by a dedicated Engineer of Record and an independent laboratory. Currently Metalkol RTR can produce 21,000 t/y of cobalt, which is says is sufficient for three million electric vehicle batteries, alongside around 100,000 t/y of copper, the company says.

ERG also has reprocessing operations outside of Africa, including at Kazchrome in Kazakhstan, which, it says, is the world’s largest high-carbon ferrochrome producer by chrome content.

Established in 2019, ERG Recycling – ERG’s specialised company aiming to become the largest entity to reprocess industrial waste into commercial products in Kazakhstan – has already implemented many projects including the commissioning of a new workshop that reprocesses slag, dust and other fine waste into high-quality briquettes. This program to reprocess Kazchrome’s 14.7 Mt of slag stockpiles has been expanded, now processing over 100,000 t/y of slag.

These operations have been enhanced by the development of new technology. Having completed the first trial in 2020, the Slimes 2 Tailings Reprocessing project at Donskoy GOK has the potential to enhance Kazchrome’s output of chrome concentrate by recovering 55% of the chromium oxide in chrome-oxide bearing tailings using innovative flotation technology, the company says.

In Brazil, at ERG’s integrated project, BAMIN, which produces a premium 67% Fe grade iron ore and is ramping up to become one of the country’s largest standalone iron ore exporters, the company’s transition from an upstream to a downstream tailings model ensured continued compliance with both local regulations and international standards, it said. The group continues to study additional technological enhancements to ensure the construction and operation of a world-class facility.

The environmental benefits of reprocessing projects like these are very significant for the business and critical to local communities, according to the company.

“As more attention rightly turns towards environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, it is crucial that tailings are dealt with and stored properly,” ERG said. “Aside from preventing significant issues, such as dam collapses, by reprocessing and responsibly storing these tailings, we are reducing local pollution risks more generally, increasing air quality and decreasing the likelihood of leaching toxic substances into surrounding habitats and water systems.”

Given the legacy of environmental degradation and serious consequences it poses, it is also necessary for mining companies to explore novel ways of rehabilitating the environment.

For example, ERG has been working with a team of agronomists from the University of Lubumbashi in the DRC to look into the experimental planting of trees and their growing potential at the Kingamyambo tailings dam.

Looking forward, these operations will support the sustainable development of affordable batteries and other clean energy technologies.

By producing critical raw materials, such as cobalt, without the risk and cost of needing to develop new mining projects, ERG says it can help make electric vehicles and other renewable technologies more accessible, helping facilitating the net-zero transition.

Pictured above is Metalkol RTR, ERG’s reprocessing facility in the DRC: the world’s second largest standalone cobalt producer

ICMM looks to address mining industry approach to social performance with new tools

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The International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) has published a set of practical tools to, it says, strengthen approaches to managing social performance within mining companies, to support more harmonious company-community relationships and enable positive socio-economic outcomes.

Social performance is the outcome of a company’s engagement, activities and commitments that directly and indirectly impact stakeholders, particularly the local communities that live close to mining operations. Good social performance requires companies to have robust management approaches and systems in place that avoid harm to people and planet, whilst contributing to social and economic development.

ICMM’s new tools have been designed to support companies to strengthen these capabilities, in order to build and maintain positive relationships with local communities and broader society.

Rohitesh Dhawan, CEO at ICMM, said: “Mining-related activity affects local communities and often takes place on Indigenous land. The industry has a critical role to play in creating lasting positive impact for those affected and can only achieve this through consistent approaches to social performance.

“This isn’t something that our industry has always got right, and we have seen the devastating impact it can have when it goes wrong. Just as financial and environmental risks are integrated across business decision making, these tools support companies to better integrate social risks and impacts to manage their social performance more effectively. ICMM’s social performance tools are available to the entire industry. They will support business leaders and social performance practitioners assess the maturity of social performance in their business, build competency, integrate social performance across the business and contribute to the organisational culture required to consistently avoid harm and deliver business and societal value.”

Tom Palmer, CEO of Newmont and Chair of ICMM’s CEO Social Performance Advisory Group, said: “Improving social performance will require leadership, commitment, tools and a willingness to be held to account for our impacts. I am reminded every day about the impacts our activities can have on people’s lives-our commitment to eliminating fatalities from our workplace is an example of where leadership, commitment and vigilance must exist for us to ensure our people go home safe every day.

“Improving social performance requires us to stand in the shoes of the community or those directly impacted by our activities-how do we like what we see when we look back at ourselves?”

The tools have been developed to support leaders, non-experts, and social practitioners as they work to better integrate social performance throughout their businesses. The individual tools include:

  • Accessible introduction to social performance, the value it delivers and how to achieve good performance;
  • A maturity matrix to establish where a company is on their social performance journey and guidance on developing an action plan;
  • A competency framework to help build the experience, skills and knowledge needed to manage social performance successfully;
  • Guidance on how to integrate community engagement across site-level activities;
  • Guidance on how to integrate social performance across the business as a whole; and
  • Support for leaders and decision-makers working to embed social performance into their operating model

These tools build on ICMM’s existing bank of guidance and resources on social performance.

Calidus to incorporate solar power, battery storage into Warrawoona power mix

Environmental, Mineral project development, Mining services, Power supply for mines, Precious metals, Sustainable mining, , , , , , ,

Calidus Resources has executed an agreement with Zenith Pacific for the construction of a 4 MW solar farm with 3.5 MW battery energy storage system at its Warrawoona gold project in Western Australia.

Zenith is currently constructing the 11 MW gas-fired power station at Warrawoona under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). The construction of the solar farm is part of the PPA whereby Calidus purchases power from Zenith.

The solar farm will be constructed in the second half of 2022 and will feed into the distribution line between the power station and accommodation village.

Calidus Managing Director, Dave Reeves, said the decision to proceed with the solar farm and battery storage was in line with the company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives.

“Calidus is committed to carbon reduction as part of its ESG policy,” he said. “This renewable microgrid is a cornerstone to our carbon reduction plan which includes the use of LNG, not diesel, and the ability of the LNG gensets to use up to 25% hydrogen.

“We are pleased to extend the relationship with Zenith to incorporate this renewables project, and look forward to its construction in the second half of this year.”

Calidus plans to start mining at Warrawoona in the June quarter of this year, and is forecast to initially produce 105,000 oz/y of gold.

Hindustan Zinc accelerates growth plans as it partners with industry leaders

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Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL), a Vedanta Group Company and the world’s second largest integrated producer of zinc and lead, is in acceleration mode, embarking on aggressive expansion and collaboration plans with technology and innovation partners from across the globe.

One of the first mining companies to commit to going “Net Zero” by 2050, it has a strong focus on ESG reinforced by plans to deploy battery-electric vehicles, tap into more solar and wind power potential and recycle waste heat from its captive power plants. Such ambitions are being delivered with up to $1 billion of finance in the next five years to “go green” and, by 2025, achieve focused sustainability goals.

At the same time as it is looking to become an ESG leader, it is boosting its mine and metal production by leveraging “smart mining” and an extensive resource and reserve base.

IM put some questions to Arun Misra, Hindustan Zinc CEO, to find out how the company intends to deliver on its lofty ambitions.

IM: HZL’s 2021 financial year to March 31, 2021, was characterised by record production volumes and profitability; how were you able to achieve such results given the COVID-19-affected constraints on your operations?

AM: The uncertainty has evolved continuously. If I give you an example, we started the year with the uncertainty of COVID only; that is people getting infected leading to absenteeism. It was so contagious, it spread so fast, half of our workforce were down. So, that struck us heavily, but, nevertheless, because we had experience of last year, and this time there was no lockdown of industry, we were able to figure out how to manage and we did manage well, compared to last year’s same quarter, which was also COVID-affected. We had introduced various measures to change the way of working to ensure a safer working environment for the employees. We also got our workforce vaccinated along with their families to further minimise the risks associated with the pandemic.

Hindustan Zinc CEO, Arun Misra, says Hindustan Zinc has been at the forefront of ensuring personal health, be it of its employees or local communities

Furthermore, the automation and digitalisation efforts at Hindustan Zinc are equipped to better withstand these testing times while ensuring quick revival to a normal level of operations.

IM: During the height of the pandemic, HZL – like other socially responsible mining companies – supported communities within or close by to its operations. Can you highlight some of the actions you took over this period and what impact they had?

AM: We at Hindustan Zinc have been at the forefront of ensuring personal health, be it of our employees or local communities. We have gone beyond and extended our support to the state of Rajasthan and the nation at large by contributing significantly to the PM Cares Fund and Rajasthan Chief Minister Relief Fund.

To meet the requirement of oxygen during the second wave of the pandemic, we had set up an oxygen bottling plant at our Dariba unit (Rajsamand district) in a record time of five days and had supplied over 14,000 cylinders of medical oxygen. We even arranged 500 oxygen concentrators to be imported and distributed for use across the state.

We had provided an insulated vaccine van to the Udaipur district medical health office to support a smooth vaccination drive and extended support to the local health administrations, by disinfecting villages by spraying and fumigating with sodium hypochlorite solution and providing medical gear like masks, sanitisers and PPE to local communities.

We even constructed an 8,000 sq.m air-conditioning dome hospital, based on German technology, which has a capacity of 100 beds – including 20 ICU beds – to accommodate patients and provide them with essential COVID treatment and medical facilities.

IM: ESG is obviously a major focus area for HZL, as these examples illustrate. Where specifically are you investing in your mining, power and smelting operations to make them more environmentally friendly?

AM: As a COP26 business leader, we have always been active in tackling the repercussions of climate change and have a strong focus on reducing carbon emissions. We are pioneers in India, declaring our ambition to convert all our mining equipment to battery-operated electric vehicles and will invest $1 billion over the next five years to make our mining operations environmentally friendly.

We are continuously expanding our renewable power of 274 MW of wind and 40 MW of solar under our greenhouse gas reduction goals by converting 50% of our total power to renewable forms in the next five years. We are among the only two metal and mining companies globally – and among four Indian companies – to be part of the coveted CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) ‘A List’ 2020.

Furthermore, we have even published our first Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) Report this year and have also joined the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) forum to understand nature-related risks and opportunities and accelerate the transition towards a nature-positive and carbon-neutral future.

We have set Sustainability Development Goals to 2025 for ourselves where we are aiming towards sustainable operations for a greener tomorrow.

Hindustan Zinc has embarked on a major growth push at its mining operations with six ongoing expansion projects that will see over 100 km of tunnels developed for underground infrastructure and ore access

IM: At the same time as this, HZL has embarked on a major growth push at your mining operations with six ongoing expansion projects that will see over 100 km of tunnels developed for underground infrastructure and ore access. How are you able to balance your sustainable expansion plans with pledges to reduce your overall footprint?

AM: We strive for operational excellence and cost efficiencies and continue to stay on the growth track while being equally cognisant of our environmental, social and governance commitments, as well as our sustainability goals. We are leveraging more digitalisation and automation than we ever have, as well as engaging with technology leaders to do ‘more with less’.

The SmartDrive equipment we plan to use enables higher productivity, lower operating costs and, most importantly, zero local emissions, featuring in-built energy recuperation technology to make the most of regenerative braking energy during downhill driving and deceleration.

Being a power-intensive business, our key focus is always on reducing dependence on non-renewable sources of energy and enhancing our renewable power base.

IM: How important has it been to partner with like-minded technology and solution providers to ensure you meet these ambitious goals? Can you provide some examples here?

AM: We always look for partners who align with our philosophy of running sustainable operations to achieve company goals. We don’t need one-off solutions from companies to meet our targets; we need companies that will engage throughout our medium- and long-term projects and provide an element of customisation that factors in the realities of operating in our underground mines. We look for global partners to work with us where we exchange ideas, insights and knowledge with them in our growth journey.

We believe in providing opportunities to our business partners to leverage collaboration on technology, innovation and digitalisation, for long-term value creation and mutual growth.

To support our expansion plan, it is crucial for Hindustan Zinc to collaborate with mine development and operation partners who share a similar vision to ours, which is to leverage cutting-edge technology to create a positive impact on the entire mining fraternity. We are currently working with companies like Sandvik, Epiroc, Normet, Barminco, RCT, Siemens, etc as our global partners. We have engaged with them to provide end-to-end solutions rather than sourcing a specific supply or service.

Hindustan Zinc has given an equal platform for women engineers in its mining operations, appointing India’s first female underground mine manager in 2021

IM: You have already stated a goal of 1.5 Mt/y of zinc production in the upcoming years and extending your lead as India’s largest integrated zinc-lead producer; what is your vision for the company to 2030 and beyond?

AM: We are excited about our next phase of expansion to take mining capacity from 1.2 Mt per annum to 1.35 Mt/a. We will surely cross 1 Mt and we should be above our guidance if we achieve the desired run rates in our third and fourth quarters.

While our growth plans are a key part of the company’s future, we are also focused on becoming the leading zinc-lead-silver producer from an environmental, social and governance point of view. Our DJSI Ranking of being among the Top 5 companies in the metal and mining sector is testament to this. We are already winning significant awards for our ESG and CSR efforts, and expect this recognition to continue and grow as we head towards mapping out our 2025 sustainability goals.

Also, the mining value chain is changing across the globe and more consumers are becoming aware of the origins of the products they buy and the emissions that come with their production.

To collaborate with Hindustan Zinc on its green growth mission, email [email protected]

Rio Tinto partners with Pixxel to investigate hyperspectral satellite tech capabilities

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Pixxel, an edge earth-imaging technology company, has announced an early adoption partnership with Rio Tinto spanning mineral exploration, active and closed mine site monitoring and ESG metrics.

Pixxel’s imaging satellites, capable of 5 m hyperspectral imaging, will help Rio Tinto assess the benefits the technology may provide in these areas, the company said. Rio will begin its assessment of the technology following the release of imagery from Pixxel’s first high-resolution satellite, set to launch early this year.

This partnership, Pixxel says, validates the potential benefits that its technology may provide to the resources sector.

“Pixxel’s high-resolution hyperspectral satellite imagery has the potential to significantly reduce costs and timelines for exploration and improve monitoring of active and closed mine sites,” the company said. “In the coming months, Pixxel plans to launch a high resolution hyperspectral satellite, which will capture 50x information compared to common multispectral satellites. Rio Tinto will be assessing the potential of Pixxel’s hyperspectral imagery to help reduce the disturbance footprint of exploration activities, monitor the operational and environmental performance of active mining operations, and monitor biodiversity and vegetation health around closed sites.”

Pixxel Co-Founder and CEO, Awais Ahmed, said: “This partnership will be pioneering in its deployment of hyperspectral satellite imagery for commercial mining operations. We’re excited to be partnering with Rio Tinto to explore the use of hyperspectral remote sensing technology across their operations at a global scale.

“Moreover, the exponential leap in image quality (50x more detail than existing multispectral satellite imagery) allows Rio Tinto the ability to assess Pixxel’s imagery for monitoring critical mining operations and make key decisions with sustainability in mind.”

Dave Andrews, Head of Exploration at Rio Tinto, added: “Rio Tinto is participating in Pixxel’s Early Adopter Program because we believe that exploration could benefit from more cost-effective and easier access to hyperspectral satellite data.”

SQM to highlight ESG lithium credentials with IRMA audit

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Lithium leader, SQM has commenced a third-party audit against what it says is the world’s most rigorous standard of best practices in environmental and social responsibility at industrial scale mines: the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA)’s Standard for Responsible Mining.

According to a United Nations Environment Programme report published in 2020, IRMA “is the only mine-site focused multi-stakeholder standard for industrial-scale mining that offers independent external verification and certification, that requires corrective actions and continuous improvement”.

IRMA is also the only mine-site standard that requires community engagement in all steps of the process, an aspect of focus for SQM, the miner said. The IRMA standard has the most robust criteria related to fair labour and terms of work, occupational health and safety, and community health and safety, it added.

By commencing a publicly-noticed, independent third-party audit, the company can now participate as a Member in the IRMA scheme. This makes SQM the second lithium mining company and the first Chile-based mining company to initiate an independent IRMA audit and, through this, become a full IRMA Member.

An audit report will also be shared publicly upon completion, allowing reviewers to understand both strengths and challenges at the operation, and will guide improvements.

This membership is part of SQM’s established process of working to a high standard of transparency and public accountability in its corporate objectives on environmental matters, sustainable operations and social responsibility, it said.

At the end of 2021, SQM also announced it is participating in the UN’s Race To Zero program, and trialling Chile’s first high-tonnage electric truck to be used in low-emission mining operations.

SQM’s CEO, Ricardo Ramos, said: “This is a fantastic step forward for SQM in our ongoing efforts to continue to lead the industry in terms of sustainability commitments and public reportability of our ESG objectives. SQM’s IRMA membership represents the newest development in a slew of green initiatives, but we are not stopping here. Our aim is to achieve the IRMA Transparency Level by 2022 and IRMA 50 by 2025, and we are firmly optimistic that we can make the changes necessary to meet these carefully considered goals.

“This is an exciting time for SQM as we continue to explore innovative ways to make our lithium production more environmentally friendly, while listening and supporting our local communities.”

IMARC ready to explore the race to decarbonise the energy sector

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The global effort to decarbonise the energy sector is underway, and the race to net zero is shaping up to be an investment opportunity to define the decades to come, the organisers of the IMARC conference report.

Research suggests that as the price of adopting green energy continues to fall, so will the global demand for fossil-fuelled energy sources. Eventually a tipping point will be reached, and fossil fuel dependent energy companies’ assets will become ‘stranded’ unless they can adapt or pivot toward new sustainable energy practices.

As nations in the first world expand and those from the second and third world modernise, their energy needs will do the same, meaning more electricity, more hydrogen, more nuclear and more yet-to-be-discovered energy sources will be needed than ever before.

For the companies participating in Australia’s biggest mining conference, the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) in 2022, staying in the race to decarbonise is essential.

Tipping point

Research suggests the tipping point for fossil-fuelled energy providers will come when costs for renewables reach parity with the lowest-cost traditional fossil alternatives, and this could be much sooner than 2050.

For such companies, demonstrating the long-term value to investors in a soon-to-be stranded asset class is becoming an increasingly hard sell. But it does not have to be. By pivoting toward renewable energy and investing in a low-carbon future, companies can ensure their survival after net zero.

EDL CEO, James Harman, said the industry was making the slow but sure transition to decarbonisation.

“The world has long relied on cheap, plentiful fossil fuels to power economies,” Harman said.

“In the early 2010s, EDL started looking to solar and wind generation as alternatives to fossil fuels across our portfolio, particularly for off-grid customers in remote Australia who were largely dependent on diesel- or gas-fuelled generation.

“In recent years, we have enjoyed great success with our hybrid energy solutions, helping our customers reduce their carbon footprint, but importantly maintaining and improving reliability whilst holding or reducing price. For example, our Agnew Hybrid Renewable Microgrid at Gold Fields’ Agnew Gold Mine provides the mine with energy that is an average of 50-60% from renewable sources, with 99.99% reliability.”

“EDL was one of the pioneers in the Australian landfill gas sector in the 1990s and, today, we are leading the way in high renewable energy fraction islanded microgrids. We are also exploring the introduction of landfill gas to renewable natural gas/biomethane technology to the Australian market, and the economic production of green hydrogen.”

ESG reinvigorating investment

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) frameworks are, at their core, risk assessment tools that consider the effect climate change will have on investors’ value creation opportunities. In June 2021, research and advisory experts, Gartner, released some jaw-dropping facts about the growing importance of ESG credentials.

According to Gartner, more than 90% of banks monitor ESG, along with 24 global credit ratings agencies, 71% of fixed income investors and more than 90% of insurers. Media mentions of ESG data, ratings or scores grew by 30% year-over-year in 2020, and 67% of banks screen their loan portfolios for ESG risks.

Harman acknowledged that it was important for attitudes and practices across the energy sector to change.

“Given that electricity generators are some of Australia’s biggest carbon emitters and most of the product generated is carbon intensive and derived from fossil fuels – the most important ESG themes for energy companies are climate change action and environmental stewardship,” he said.

“This includes investment in research and development into zero emissions technologies such as distributed energy solutions, energy storage and alternative renewable fuels as well as carbon capture & storage.”

ABB Australia Head of Mining, Nik Gresshoff, is encouraged by the innovation and progress he’s seeing in electrification and hydrogen technologies. ABB Australia is a Gold Sponsor of IMARC in 2022.

“The challenge for mining companies now is to map out their own journey, and to weigh up the gains that can be achieved now through automation, along with the investment required to get to net zero,” Gresshoff said.

Gresshoff recommends companies first define what their carbon footprint is, and what falls within their scope for decarbonisation, before beginning a net-zero journey. “Are they focusing on direct and indirect emissions initially or including the whole supply chain from the outset?” he asked.

“The next step is to examine the technology and what is currently possible to decarbonise. Having a clear understanding of where the company assets are in their lifecycle is critical, as well as an understanding of what technology is available and what technology could fit with the current operation.”

Can dinosaurs survive the Ice Age?

Fossil fuels may be going the way of the dinosaurs that created them, but economies of the future will still require the massive infrastructure frameworks and operational capacities to meet current and future energy needs.

In fact, economists have suggested an overnight collapse of the energy giants could result in massive job cuts and instability leading to a global economic recession.

As was made clear at the Glasgow COP 26 Summit, there is a ‘wall of money’ that will be available for the energy companies of the future – whether that is retrofitting existing gas pipelines for transport of liquid hydrogen or utilising closed coal mine sites for new nuclear power sites, or any number of ways that energy companies can and are pivoting.
EDL believes there is an opportunity for many technologies to play their part.

“There won’t be a one-size-fits-all energy solution that achieves affordability, reliability and sustainability for our diverse country,” Harman said.

“Large conventional power stations are and will continue to be replaced with lower emissions plant with support to make them more dispatchable, allowing cheaper renewable energy to be scheduled when available.

“For shorter-term storage, batteries are feasible but longer-term storage is currently uneconomic. There are a few potential options to resolve this including pumped hydro, new kinds of batteries and hydrogen.

“Based on our experience in the USA, we also see the potential for renewable natural gas (RNG), or biomethane, to play a significant part in the transition from fossil fuels to renewables in the industrial, heating, power and transport industries. RNG production is a technologically mature, ready-to-scale product that is deployable now.”

EDL’s James Harman will be sharing further insights on net zero at the upcoming IMARC in Melbourne, Australia, taking place on January 31-February 2, 2022.

IM is a media sponsor of IMARC