(This April 17 story has been officially corrected after the Industry Trade Group clarified that it believes industry has a role to play in the government’s FPIC assessment process, in paragraph 9)
By Ernest Scheyder
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – The world’s governments must do more to convince local communities and indigenous groups to support mines that produce crucial minerals needed to power the energy transition and fight climate change, the head of a prominent industrial group.
Mines around the world are increasingly facing opposition for religious, environmental or other reasons, with pressure appearing to have increased in the past year after officials in Panama, in response to protests, closed a mine that contained 1% of the world’s supply supplies.
Still, efforts to combat the rise in global temperatures have spurred the use of solar panels, electric vehicles and other technologies built with large amounts of copper, nickel and other crucial minerals.
If governments want to take the fight against climate change seriously, they must find a way to advance some projects, rather than expecting companies and host communities to negotiate among themselves, said Rohitesh Dhawan, CEO of the International Council on Mining and Metals, to Reuters on the sidelines of climate change. the World Copper Conference in Santiago this week.
“As governments become more actively involved in increasing the supply of critical minerals … that comes with a responsibility to help build an effective and trusting relationship between the industry and affected communities,” said Dhawan, who Joined ICMM in 2021 after a career in consultancy.
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“We cannot have a situation where governments are completely distancing themselves.”
London-based ICMM, whose 24 members including BHP and Glencore (OTC:) account for about a third of the world’s metal production, is revising its policy first drawn up a decade ago on how miners should dealing with indigenous communities, Dhawan said. is known as free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).
“There is a need for a new framework and an honest conversation about where does a mine’s responsibility begin and end, and where does government’s responsibility begin and end?” Dhawan said.
While governments have the primary responsibility for obtaining FPIC, industry has a role to play in supporting that assessment process, especially in obtaining approval for a mine’s local impacts, Dhawan said.
However, the mining sector does not necessarily need to build a mine if it receives government approval but not local support, he added. “Everyone benefits from moving to a low-carbon economy, but the consequences are always local.”
INDUSTRY LEADERS
The tension between rising copper demand and entrenched opposition was a central theme at this week’s conference in Santiago, which organizers said was attended by more than 500 people.
“Everyone is asking for decarbonization of the economy, but what we are constantly facing is absolutely a struggle in any permitting process,” said Roland Harings, CEO of Aurubis, Europe’s largest copper producer.
Executives acknowledged that the industry has not always had the best reputation, especially after fatal mining accidents in recent years.
“We need to be able to demonstrate that we will work with host communities in a more responsible and long-term way,” said Jonathan Price, CEO of Teck Resources (NYSE:), which operates across America.
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That was echoed by executives from Codelco, the Chilean state-owned copper giant, as well as BHP and others.
“Mining is good for the world, but it has to be done right,” said Simon Collins of Australia South32 (OTC:), which is developing a zinc mine in the United States that has the support of President Joe Biden’s administration.
