Nearly half of mining companies globally rank licence to operate as their biggest risk to business says new report. And that’s for the second year in in a row.
Ernst and Young’s Top 10 Business Risks and Opportunities 2020 report found 44% of the world’s top mining executives say reputation & community support are their largest concerns.
That’s a big shift in just a few years. As E&Y’s head of mining and metals Paul Mitchell said “Perceptions of the sector as being old-fashioned and dirty need to be challenged, so building a social bond is make or break.”
He went on to add: “Miners need to be part of the solution, not the problem, by engaging with topics including the circular economy and green mining of the future.”
It’s interesting that no. 2 & 3 in the E&Y rankings related to ‘future of workforce’, and ‘digital and data optimisation’……key issues to achieving zero emissions. Meaning we need to be embracing new technologies, while making sure our workforce is just as skilled.
Even more to the point, the E&Y rankings saw 2 new entrants in to the top 10……’the cost of carbon’ and ‘innovation’.
The E&Y study shows that the sectors top executives are grappling with new issues to make sure mining stays relevant. We also want to engage with them to make sure we do it together.
How timely then is our Zero Emissions Copper Mine of the Future roadmap-undertaken by Sydney University’s Warren Centre for Engineering Excellence-outlining what it will take to get copper mining to become smarter, greener & cleaner.