Researchers at the University of
Queensland in Australia mapped the countries and regions within them that will
likely become mining hotspots as the world moves towards a low carbon future.
In a paper
published in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers said
this exercise led them to conclude that such a transition is expected to lead
to more mining in high-risk areas. In these places, competition over resources
such as water and land may negatively impact surrounding communities.
“Past research has raised concerns about the environmental, social and governance pressures that come from increased
mining but they have never assessed the risks on a global scale using
quantitative data,” Éléonore Lèbre, lead author of the study, said in a media
statement.
“By applying seven categories of
risk – three environmental, three social and one governance indicator – we were
able to map where these mining hotspots would exist and the metals involved.”
After looking at over 6,800 mining
projects of 20 different metals around the world, Lèbre and her colleagues
realized that certain commodities such as platinum and cobalt exhibit particularly risky profiles, but other metals do as
well.
“Major metals like iron and copper are rarely talked about in the energy transition
discussion, but they will be needed in large quantities, and are set to disturb
big chunks of land as production volumes increase,” the scientist said.
“Australia, the United States and
China will be the most affected, having the largest clusters of mines located
in potential high-risk contexts.”
According to Lèbre, good governance
in these countries will be key to ensure the energy transition happens without
unleashing negative social and environmental impacts induced by mining.
Source:
mining.com