The 2024 year and the sustainability challenges for mining

We all want to have a better future and a greener, cleaner planet with a healthy environment, at the end of the day, it is a human right.

Mining plays a fundamental role in this objective, in fact, it is clear that the present and future of an efficient and safe energy transition depends on a strong value chain in the supply of some fundamental minerals, for example, mining, through the production of various metals, such as copper, lithium, cobalt, nickel or silver, is considered key to combating climate change and collaborating with the sustainability of economic activities.

However, this does not relieve mining of the need to become a sustainable industry so as not to counteract the advances it seeks to achieve. To do this, it is valid to question ourselves: What challenges is mining facing worldwide to achieve carbon neutrality and to be a factor of positive change that contributes for a sustainable future?

Responsible water consumption, the reduction of the carbon footprint and the sustainable management of massive mining waste are probably the three most important points behind mining sustainability, as defined by various academics and mining experts worldwide.

The first thing to face these challenges is to prepare and take the lead with concrete actions that help overcome these challenges. As Robert Swan once stated: “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it for us”.

According to the latest CAMIMEX sustainability report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) recognized that the demand for minerals for clean energy technologies will quadruple by 2050. However, increased demand does not automatically eliminate mining's operational challenges. For example, as we already mentioned, a specific challenge for the mining industry is to be a positive factor that supports combating the water scarcity faced in various jurisdictions where it operates, applying best practices to meet the objectives of sustainable development and combat negative effects of climate change and its projections.

A concept that has gained popularity globally is the concept of “Green Mining”, identified as a technique that seeks to promote efficiency in the use of materials, water, and energy to reduce the environmental footprint of product life cycles based on minerals. That said, it is necessary to confirm that the implementation of green practices in mining can improve the quality of life of the local communities that host the mines, further reduce any possible contamination, and make the use of natural resources more efficient, thus promoting sustainable development.

As we have defended many times in this forum, the mining industry has a crucial role in the 2030 agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), since it is related to several of these objectives, including the eradication of poverty, proliferation of decent work, gender equality, and, most importantly, addressing its environmental impacts and ensuring sustainable economic growth.

It is clear that in order to achieve these objectives, a responsible and sustainable mining industry is needed, a strong industry that minimizes any negative impact of its operations and maximizes local benefits to a greater extent. In short, mining must continue to evolve and continue to be a benchmark for an industry capable of working intensely and creatively, towards the goal of carrying out a more sustainable activity that benefits both companies, communities, and all stakeholders, and to the environment.

Another challenge for mining, which is part of the commitments to climate change, involves carrying out mitigation and adaptation efforts in mining operations. A concrete example is the use of green fuels in the different stages of the production process, especially in the transportation of materials – which often represents most  of the direct emissions from mining – as well as developing different strategies and concrete actions to achieve the sector's carbon neutrality goal, taking into account that the correct vision of responsible mining in the future must be always towards the objective of reaching the generation of zero waste.

Now, we cannot talk about clean energy without the traditional responsible mining. Specifically, it could be said for example, that copper mining has a double role within the energy transition. On the one hand, as an activator of the use of clean energy and on the other, providing a raw material that is an important component in the operation of clean technologies such as photovoltaics, wind, and electromobility to mention a few. Therefore, the production and supply of copper becomes key and strategic to achieve a positive energy transition, not only in Mexico, but throughout the world.

It must be recognized that at a global level, the mining industry is facing a historic opportunity, which involves making decisions and carrying out concrete, effective, precise, and replicable acts, which will allow us to continue promoting the future and sustainability of responsible mining, not only in 2024, but in the short, mid and the long-term.