Mining as a resource manager  

Happy new year! Welcome back to The Intelligent Miner newsletter.

To kick off a year of holistic exploration on mining and its intersection with people and the planet, I’ve chosen the topic of natural resource management. In the future, it’s important that more mining companies start to see themselves as managers or caretakers of precious resources like water, energy and minerals, rather than consumers or ‘owners’. 

Extractives companies today have a particularly complex, dare I say it, rather parasitic, relationship with mother nature. This is nearly always characterised by a one-way flow of value, assumed entitlement when it comes to natural resources, and it really only promotes or protects the interests of one party. 

While driving down water and energy usage is vital to creating more efficient and less wasteful processes, minimising consumption doesn’t solve the problem. The problem is contemporary culture and the way in which we regard natural resources.

Someone asked me recently: “Can an industry that relies solely upon the depletion of finite and, in some cases, highly contentious resources for its base existence ever be fully sustainable?”

I didn’t have a decent answer. But it’s a question that has stuck with me.

This month, I want to explore the relationship that the mining industry has with the environment and the resources it relies upon. I’m curious as to how this will change with the advent of zero-waste, circular business practices, how the risks and opportunities for both parties will evolve, and also how a healthier attitude towards resource stewardship (perhaps brought by younger generations) could change the industry's fate.

It’s also important to keep asking how we could do better. How can mining companies provide value for the environment and/or other resource users in return for their share of the pie? We’re becoming accustomed to the idea of identifying opportunities for shared social value in mining and metals projects, but what about shared environmental value? 

Forging a more symbiotic relationship with nature will not be quick or easy, but it will yield long-term benefits that could be critical to the industry’s survival.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Drop me an email for more resource chat.

Carly

Coming up in February: Mining as part of an industrial ecosystem