The mining industry’s potential to catalyse the green energy transition is as vast as it is misunderstood. Simply, without mining, the green energy transition will not happen.
ERG at the Forefront: Pioneering Sustainable Mining for the Battery Revolution
Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), the world’s leading diversified natural resources group is at the vanguard of integrated mining solutions, with more than 80,000 employees and operations in 16 countries. It is our mission to ensure that mining plays a key role in the transition and occupies its rightful place in the court of sustainability.
The conundrum faced is the paucity of raw materials coupled with an exponentially increasing demand for raw materials and key metals. Recent research has found that in order to reach net-zero, demand for key metals like copper, lithium and aluminum will grow fivefold by 2050. ERG is undertaking innovative methods to reprocess historic tailings, such as in its flagship facility in the DRC – Metalkol – where it has expanded production capacity tenfold in the past three years.
ERG also consistently works towards reducing the carbon footprint of its operations: taking Metalkol as an example, it has a unique business model with circularity at its core, and helps to decontaminate the local environment while enjoying a significantly lower carbon footprint than most of its peers.
Mining is a sophisticated endeavour, and ERG harnesses cutting edge technology effectively. NOMAD, for example, is a teleoperated remote sampling system which explores historically unexplored regions – ERG is deploying it in Saudi Arabia – for critical raw minerals to jumpstart a low carbon economy.
Mining for a Sustainable Future: ERG’s Innovative Approach in Battery Metals
Batteries aren’t just lost behind the sofa; they are integral to energy transition. ERG co-founded the Global Battery Alliance (GBA) – a public-private platform whose 150+ members are helping to establish a sustainable battery value chain by 2030.
Earlier this year, the GBA launched the world’s first Battery Passport, a digital twin of a battery which includes information relating the battery’s technical specifications, material provenance, and sustainability performance. The technical feasibility of the battery passport has been recognised by the EU and will become a mandatory requirement by 2026 – with other regions likely to follow suit.
Shaping the Future of Mining and Battery Technology
Mining companies need to be resilient. They need to focus on how mining can encourage greater investment. BlackRock and others have noted that the entire energy transition could be in jeopardy if investment remains low. Some of the world’s top technology stocks – Apple, Google and Amazon – dwarf the combined market capitalisation of all listed mining companies. The irony is palpable: the device you are using to read this piece would not exist if there were not enough investment to produce cobalt – a key part of its battery.
Encouraging investment is an important theme that needs to be discussed openly and frankly at COP28, especially investing in “frontier” jurisdictions which might be seen as posing a higher risk for global investors yet have the potential to yield the volumes and grades required to help meet net-zero goals. Changing the attitudes of the investor community will grant that necessary peace of mind for the industry which is inextricably linked to the future of sustainability.
