The mining industry, pivotal for supplying minerals needed to combat climate change, faces significant challenges from its environmental legacy and external pressures. Efforts to rehabilitate past damages coexist with risks from extreme weather and ethical concerns in supply chains. Despite commitments to sustainability, the sector grapples with corruption scandals and artisanal mining issues.
In Johannesburg, companies like DRDGold are actively reversing mining's toxic legacies. Over the past 12 years, DRDGold has removed and reprocessed about 140 mine dumps, restoring 700 hectares of land. The firm has paid dividends consistently for 18 years, demonstrating that profitability can align with environmental rehabilitation. For 20 years, it has re-mined dumps around Johannesburg for gold while rehabilitating the landscape.
However, climate change poses growing risks to operations. A July PwC report highlights that copper mines, essential for semiconductors in computers, washing machines, solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and charging stations, face threats from severe droughts. "If we don’t adapt, within 10 years a third of all semiconductor production will be reliant on copper at risk from climate disruption. By 2050, it could be nearly double that," the report warned. In Zambia, copper production was curtailed by a drought triggered by El Niño, crippling the Kariba Dam's power generation. Heavy rains in South Africa's first quarter this year disrupted mining production, while Sibanye-Stillwater’s palladium operations in Montana suffered from a 2022 'once-in-a-century' flood, events likely to become more frequent due to climate change.
Regulatory scrutiny under environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards is intensifying. At Gold Fields' Salares Norte mine in Chile's Andes, 80 full-time staff monitor a colony of 25 endangered chinchillas as part of translocation efforts required by environmental permits. A public consultation for a global Consolidated Mining Standard, launched on 8 October and running to 17 November, involves groups like the Copper Mark and World Gold Council. "While a tonne of metal from different sources is indistinguishable to the eye, whether it has been produced, processed and recycled responsibly carries immense implications for society and our planet," the organizers stated.
Past misconduct lingers. In 2021, Glencore paid over $1.1-billion in fines after pleading guilty to bribery and market manipulation violations. "The scope of this criminal bribery scheme is staggering," said US attorney Damian Williams. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, which holds 70% of global cobalt reserves crucial for EV and cellphone batteries, artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) accounts for up to 20% of production, though the Cobalt Institute estimates 2% in 2024. The World Bank notes up to 45 million people in ASM, often in appalling conditions. In South Africa, illegal zama zama mining links to organized crime and environmental damage.
Coal's persistence adds irony, with global use reaching 8.77 billion tonnes in 2024, supplying 35% of electricity. Major banks have exited the Net Zero Banking Alliance, supporting fossil fuels.