Sustainable investments and the future of mining
Mining companies worldwide are making efforts to make the business more sustainable. BNamericas talked with Vilma Pérez, senior sustainability consultant at Arcadis Chile, about opportunities for sustainable investments and current challenges for the mining industry.
BNamericas: Could the current health crisis represent an opportunity to boost sustainable investments in the mining sector?
Pérez: Yes, because we’re facing a situation where you have a series of crises with synergies and so solutions must be very integral. The opportunity isn’t new, it’s a part of the [UN] sustainable development agenda for 2030.
Overcoming poverty is one of the goals of the agenda and Chile’s mining industry is a big contributor to our GPD and job creation. So [the mining industry] faces a big task to contribute to achieving those goals.
BNamericas: What are the sustainable investments the mining industry needs?
Pérez: There are five big areas of investment and one of them is related to water.
The mining industry must make more efforts to increase the reuse of water. They’re already working on it, but more investment in research and innovation is needed.
Another subject is the use of seawater, which could be directly used in productive processes as seawater or as desalinated water. Until 2019, the use of desalinated water within the [Chilean] industry was just 6%, so there’s a lot to do there.
We also believe that work on a water management model is needed, what we call water governance.
Another important area of investment is energy. It’s necessary to increase the use of renewable energy within the mining industry, but it’s also necessary to generate it. A good example is what Anglo American is doing it at Las Tórtolas tailings dam, where they generate their own energy using solar panels.
But the use of green hydrogen is also a new challenge for the mining industry and the whole country.
Another investment area is tailings. Mining tailings are the equivalent of city landfills, the place where we send stuff we don’t know how to use to produce anything. The challenge there is how to use that material in an economic way.
BHP is currently advancing with the Tailings Challenge, but it’s important for all mining companies to participate in that kind of initiative.
The last investment area is related to emissions of greenhouse gases, where efforts to reduce them are required and transportation plays a key role within the mining industry.
The sector must increase the use of electromobility in light vehicles; they cannot do it with heavy vehicles but green hydrogen emerges as an option.
BNamericas: Could it be possible to use green hydrogen in mining in the medium term?
Pérez: Green hydrogen technology already exists; the problem is its cost. The challenge is technological from the point of view of how to reduce production and transportation costs of green hydrogen.
Its viability is related to investment in research and innovation to find solutions and incorporate them in the industry as soon as possible.
BNamericas: What will be the main challenges for mining companies if they decide to advance with sustainable investments?
Pérez: Research and innovation will be a challenge, but that will be related to alliances. Nowadays it’s important to strengthen alliances.
Mining companies currently need to work together because they have the same problems, but they should consider researchers and academia.
BNamericas: Due to the pandemic, mining companies’ revenues have decreased. Could that be an obstacle to advance with sustainable investments?
Pérez: The current situation threatens to reduce profits. However, I think that obstacles will be mainly distrust of society toward mining companies and the effects on the environment.
A key tool that could be adopted by mining companies is the Human Rights Due Diligence Policy because it is intended to manage risks but also allows obstacles to be identified and an action plan to be proposed. It is a tool that increases transparency and accountability, and all of that contributes to overcoming the mistrust.
Photo credit: Arcadis
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