12
Reporting
Involves communicating and presenting effective miti-
gation measures used to reduce risks in sustainability
reports, stakeholder or community meetings, mine-site
line-out meetings, Mine Safety and Health Administration
(MSHA), etc.
Overall, the competency of the risk management pro-
gram is determined by its effectiveness to prevent, miti-
gate, and resolve site-specific challenges. Investment in
the creation of an adequate risk management system may
be expensive however, it is vital for the development of
long-term solutions. This would be most beneficial for cop-
per projects that have an extensive mine lifetime. Yet, it is
advisable for companies to develop effective and resilient
risk management systems for any project even if it costs a
bit more than short-term solutions as short-term solutions
require frequent fixtures.
STRICTER ESG STANDARDS AND
MEETING FUTURE COPPER DEMANDS
With the development of renewable energy sources and
operational transitions to meet net zero goals, copper is
becoming a highly demanded commodity. According to
the World Bank, copper’s demand is estimated to increase
by 200% by 2050 due to copper’s involvement in the func-
tioning of wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, energy storage,
nuclear, coal, gas, and carbon capture technologies (Hund
et al., 2020). This means more deposits will need to be
unlocked to meet demands which will increase negative
environmental and social effects due to the need for inva-
sive practices to reach deeper, low-grade copper deposits in
politically and ecologically sensitive areas (Valenta et al.,
2019).
To ensure the survival of mining in the future, stricter
ESG standards will be developed to prevent and mitigate
expected project risks but, in the process, it will limit mine
operations by extending permitting waiting time, increas-
ing qualifications for new projects, and so on. Despite this
expected limitation, the interviewed mining professionals
stated stricter ESG policies will be beneficial as they will
alarm the industry of the change that is occurring and make
companies responsible for corresponding to affected indi-
viduals and developed environmental damages. Companies
that are unable or unwilling to adopt ESG will not persist
in the future as ESG is an investment specification. If com-
panies are required to increase the quality of their mining
planning and risk management to prevent project risks,
investments will be necessary as projects will become more
economically inviable.
RELEVANCE
It is important to analyze and understand the impacts
of ESG on the copper supply chain in order to create a
framework that allows companies to reach their produc-
tion goals in a responsible, efficient, and sustainable way.
Although ESG is not a mandatory governmental law, it
is a framework that enforces widely used regulations and
rights that can be violated during mineral extraction. ESG
is important because it targets and works towards solving
urgent and hazardous risks in mining projects by looking
at environmental, social, and governmental policies and
approaches. ESG is a tool that helps impacted individuals,
stakeholders, and companies to communicate, negotiate,
and resolve project risks and concerns. These frameworks
hold the power to provide a more structured and safer way
to mine as well as a transition for companies to improve
their working conditions and community relations.
CONCLUSION
As previously mentioned, copper is the driving force to a
functioning modern society since electricity, appliances,
and vehicles being used on a regular basis are reliant on
copper’s electrical conductivity. This places copper in high
demand as it promises a future with sustainable, carbon-
zero power sources that will help solve current environmen-
tal concerns such as climate change and contamination of
resources. This means as accessible and economical mines
are drained of their copper ores, the industry will have to
turn to more invasive practices to reach more challeng-
ing ore deposits leading to more negative environmental
impacts. This is due to the energy requirements needed to
reach the copper ores, water usage despite potential water
scarcity, and a massive generation of waste (Valenta et al.,
2019).
Therefore, an accountable system is needed to help
guide companies in current and future copper projects to
ensure the health and safety of the world. ESG has a nega-
tive impact on the unlocking and budgeting of copper proj-
ects by restricting and extending permitting waiting periods
which lead to downtime and requiring expensive alterna-
tives and solutions to reaching net-zero goals. Despite this,
ESG majorly impacts the industry and copper supply chain
by improving issues and making sure unsolved hazards are
being fixed and monitored such as abandoned mine waste
sites. ESG frameworks target each stage of the copper sup-
ply chain by listing requirements needed to prevent and
mitigate risks in order to optimize the efficiency and renew-
ability of the tasks needed to complete the stage.
According to industry experts, ESG builds a stron-
ger and narrower path towards changing the way mining
Reporting
Involves communicating and presenting effective miti-
gation measures used to reduce risks in sustainability
reports, stakeholder or community meetings, mine-site
line-out meetings, Mine Safety and Health Administration
(MSHA), etc.
Overall, the competency of the risk management pro-
gram is determined by its effectiveness to prevent, miti-
gate, and resolve site-specific challenges. Investment in
the creation of an adequate risk management system may
be expensive however, it is vital for the development of
long-term solutions. This would be most beneficial for cop-
per projects that have an extensive mine lifetime. Yet, it is
advisable for companies to develop effective and resilient
risk management systems for any project even if it costs a
bit more than short-term solutions as short-term solutions
require frequent fixtures.
STRICTER ESG STANDARDS AND
MEETING FUTURE COPPER DEMANDS
With the development of renewable energy sources and
operational transitions to meet net zero goals, copper is
becoming a highly demanded commodity. According to
the World Bank, copper’s demand is estimated to increase
by 200% by 2050 due to copper’s involvement in the func-
tioning of wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, energy storage,
nuclear, coal, gas, and carbon capture technologies (Hund
et al., 2020). This means more deposits will need to be
unlocked to meet demands which will increase negative
environmental and social effects due to the need for inva-
sive practices to reach deeper, low-grade copper deposits in
politically and ecologically sensitive areas (Valenta et al.,
2019).
To ensure the survival of mining in the future, stricter
ESG standards will be developed to prevent and mitigate
expected project risks but, in the process, it will limit mine
operations by extending permitting waiting time, increas-
ing qualifications for new projects, and so on. Despite this
expected limitation, the interviewed mining professionals
stated stricter ESG policies will be beneficial as they will
alarm the industry of the change that is occurring and make
companies responsible for corresponding to affected indi-
viduals and developed environmental damages. Companies
that are unable or unwilling to adopt ESG will not persist
in the future as ESG is an investment specification. If com-
panies are required to increase the quality of their mining
planning and risk management to prevent project risks,
investments will be necessary as projects will become more
economically inviable.
RELEVANCE
It is important to analyze and understand the impacts
of ESG on the copper supply chain in order to create a
framework that allows companies to reach their produc-
tion goals in a responsible, efficient, and sustainable way.
Although ESG is not a mandatory governmental law, it
is a framework that enforces widely used regulations and
rights that can be violated during mineral extraction. ESG
is important because it targets and works towards solving
urgent and hazardous risks in mining projects by looking
at environmental, social, and governmental policies and
approaches. ESG is a tool that helps impacted individuals,
stakeholders, and companies to communicate, negotiate,
and resolve project risks and concerns. These frameworks
hold the power to provide a more structured and safer way
to mine as well as a transition for companies to improve
their working conditions and community relations.
CONCLUSION
As previously mentioned, copper is the driving force to a
functioning modern society since electricity, appliances,
and vehicles being used on a regular basis are reliant on
copper’s electrical conductivity. This places copper in high
demand as it promises a future with sustainable, carbon-
zero power sources that will help solve current environmen-
tal concerns such as climate change and contamination of
resources. This means as accessible and economical mines
are drained of their copper ores, the industry will have to
turn to more invasive practices to reach more challeng-
ing ore deposits leading to more negative environmental
impacts. This is due to the energy requirements needed to
reach the copper ores, water usage despite potential water
scarcity, and a massive generation of waste (Valenta et al.,
2019).
Therefore, an accountable system is needed to help
guide companies in current and future copper projects to
ensure the health and safety of the world. ESG has a nega-
tive impact on the unlocking and budgeting of copper proj-
ects by restricting and extending permitting waiting periods
which lead to downtime and requiring expensive alterna-
tives and solutions to reaching net-zero goals. Despite this,
ESG majorly impacts the industry and copper supply chain
by improving issues and making sure unsolved hazards are
being fixed and monitored such as abandoned mine waste
sites. ESG frameworks target each stage of the copper sup-
ply chain by listing requirements needed to prevent and
mitigate risks in order to optimize the efficiency and renew-
ability of the tasks needed to complete the stage.
According to industry experts, ESG builds a stron-
ger and narrower path towards changing the way mining