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THE LEADER VOLUME 17 • NUMBER 3
Why mining is important – again
The mining industry will soon be recognised as the most important industry in the world . The electrification of the large GHG emitting sectors – transportation , infrastructure and manufacturing – depends on mines producing the raw resources needed to transition to a lowcarbon economy . The recent The Electric Mine 2022 Conference in Stockholm , Sweden , was an important event for two reasons . First , the presenters showcased the important steps they are taking to use battery-electric and hybridelectric vehicles to help reduce the GHG footprint of the mining industry and , second , it highlighted the enormous innovation gap between what the mining industry is doing today and how much it must change if it is to meet the needs of 2035 .
Governments everywhere are requiring every sector of the economy to show how they can reduce GHG emissions , but not all sectors are equally responsible for the high levels of CO 2 in the atmosphere . Mining ’ s GHG footprint is relatively small and while it should make every effort to reduce its emissions , it has a more important role in the economy . It is absolutely critical that the mining industry produce the amount of copper , nickel and other energy metals the major industrial sectors need to significantly reduce their emissions well before 2035 . But using BEVs alone will not be enough .
The Electric Mine 2022 Conference allowed innovators to show how they can reduce the energy consumption of conventional mining equipment by upwards of 25 % and achieve similar increases in productivity . Bloomberg has projected a five-fold increase in demand for copper , nickel , lithium , aluminium and other metals by 2035 . The recent doubling of the copper price has been driven by projected supply shortfalls . Higher prices have encouraged some companies to announce plans to expand copper exploration ‒ only 25 years too late . A Tier-1 deposit found tomorrow will take 15-20 years to come into production , so new discoveries cannot fill the 2035 supply-demand gap .
In fact , the major commodity analysts such as CRU and Wood Mackenzie project the global productive capacity for copper and nickel to peak in the next two years and decline to around 50 % of demand by 2035 . Such a massive supply-demand gap for energy metals will kill the Green Transition to a low-carbon economy , making it impossible to limit global warming to 1.5 ° C and make achieving even a 2 ° C limit very difficult . New deposits are necessary to sustain the Green Transition beyond 2035 but hitting the IPCC target of 1.5 ° C by 2100 is critical ; failing will accelerate the severity of climate change impacts .
Producing a great deal more metal at lower cost in existing mines can only be achieved by implementing high-capacity operating systems . Mines must emulate other high-productivity sectors , replacing manual , batch ore haulage with low-energy , autonomous , continuous conveying systems . These use 20 % of the energy of batch systems and move ore 5-10 times faster . Modular autonomous units on a common carrier can execute production activities with machine-tomachine communications and data drones . And , as autonomous systems improve mine productivity , they will shift mining ’ s workforce diversity profile forever .
In Canada , we have found most – but not all – of the solutions we need to help mining achieve strategic advances in productive capacity . The most innovative companies in every sector of the economy are found in the SME community and the technologies needed to make this transformation possible already exist . The difficulty with the SME innovation model is the time and effort it takes for these companies to bring new solutions to the marketplace and have them achieve commercial success . It is even more difficult for non-mining solutions to gain traction .
CEMI recognised that mining needed to accelerate the rate of innovation and adopt innovations from non-mining sectors with solutions for mining . In Toronto , last November , CEMI launched the Mining Innovation and Commercialization Accelerator ( MICA ) Network with Federal Government funding . MICA ’ s aim is to help SMEs bridge the innovation and commercialisation gaps they face and help them grow their businesses faster through collaboration and scale-up investment . MICA has six regional partner organisations familiar with the different types of mining operations , climates and terrains across Canada . These will coordinate regional events that will make mining and nonmining innovators aware of opportunities for local collaboration . These MICA Hubs will help connect local innovators to mining companies and to innovators in the other regions to maximise the opportunities for synergy and collaboration nationally . In a few months , once the communication systems in the national network have matured , the MICA Network will be open to international members . This will create a single pool of SME innovations for mining company members to find the solutions they need .
The mining of metals propelled humans from the Stone Age into the Metal Age , starting with gold , copper and bronze . Then came the Iron Age , the Fossil-fuel Age and now to the Digital ( silicon ) Age . Mining was almost forgotten ; simply a means to an end . But once again it is mining technology that will determine the future . Sticking with the same operating platform will strangle the Green Transition and the planet will continue to melt and burn . Starting to arrest Climate Change by 2035 and sustaining the Green Transition beyond 2050 depends on successfully transforming mining into a high-productivity , low environmental impact business . This is why the mining industry is now the most important industry in the world today .
Doug Morrison President & CEO
Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation ( CEMI )
MARCH 2022 | International Mining 3