BRISBANE—Business leaders at the World Mining Congress have revealed the sheer scale (and urgency) of new mining activity needed to make net zero societies feasible.
The climate change movement—supposed to be about protecting the environment—will, in fact, spur mining companies to go “deeper, bigger, and faster” to meet the demand for critical minerals like lithium and copper, which are needed for batteries and solar panels.
“A footprint of five percent [grade] copper, which is really the average grade that can be developed, would [cover] 31 square kilometres, which is 12 times the size of the CBD that we’re sitting in today,” said Sherry Duhe, interim CEO of Newcrest Mining….