Collaboration key to beating mining circularity challenges: GMG


Staff reporter

Collaboration inside and outside the mining and metals industry is vital to overcoming technological limitations, economic viability issues and regulatory complexity blocking its “journey toward circularity”, according to a new Global Mining Guidelines Group (GMG) whitepaper.

“Such collaboration [between industry stakeholders, governments and academia] is essential for fostering innovation, incentivising circular practices and establishing supportive policy frameworks,” whitepaper authors said.

Produced by Canada’s BBA Consultants on behalf of GMG, “State of Play of Circularity in the Mining and Metals Industry” looks at current developments, challenges and opportunities related to the adoption of circular practices in the mining and metals sector.

GMG is an international group of mining companies, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), original technology manufacturers (OTMs), researchers and consultants focused on tackling the industry’s key technical and social challenges collaboratively.

“While mining companies inherently know that they need to lift their game in terms of not just sustainability initiatives but circularity, they struggle in defining what that looks like,” BBA Consultants partner Caroline Provost said.

“Our aim in preparing this white paper was to enable companies to understand what leaders are doing and help provide impetus to create momentum within the mining industry to do more.”

The impetus for doing more sooner is seen to be building, with GMG and BBA saying the concept of circularity is becoming “a crucial framework for driving sustainability” as mining and metals companies, and the industry’s supply chains, deal with environmental concerns, regulatory pressures and economic challenges.

“Unlike traditional linear production models circular practices focus on the entire lifecycle of materials,” they say.

Resource optimisation and waste minimisation, and recycling and reuse of materials that reduces the need for raw material extraction, are cited as current industry steps toward circularity.

Development and implementation of new technologies for material recovery and recycling are enablers. However, the report notes, “the pace of innovation is a significant challenge due to the required timelines and urgency that are becoming apparent”.

“Currently, a typical innovation cycle in the mining and metals industry is between five-to-10 years, which poses a substantial obstacle.”

BBA senior advisor Katherine van Nes said extracting more value was a clear circularity driver for mining companies.

But rising stakeholder expectations and current and looming regulatory risks are not far behind.

“We were pleased to see that our most progressive GMG members were not limited to projects focused on reprocessing tailings but emphasised delivery of extracting more value through pioneering initiatives that created new products from legacy waste residues and byproducts, but also CO2 emissions,” van Nes said.

Whitepaper research involved interviews with, and reviews of, 28 companies, including major miners and OEMs, and leading research and consulting groups.

 

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