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A Delivery Pathway to Sustainable Minerals Processing—
The Future Impact of Research and Innovation
Richard A Williams, Faig Gasimov, Mittran G Krishanan
Heriot-Watt University, UK
ABSTRACT: The paper and plenary lecture seek to address three key questions on the mind of the minerals
processing community. ‘Where do we see ourselves in the green innovation chain?’ ‘How do we reconcile the
dilemma of driving increased production to satisfy the demands for electrical metals and minerals versus the
need to focus on redesign to assure rapid transition to net-zero operation?’ and, ‘How might we expect change to
be driven as we look to a future where corporate purpose and societal benefit are better aligned?’ Based on some
examples in the global extraction of copper and lithium, six main drivers for change are proposed based on possible
scenarios of future metal market, trends in the public trust in corporations and future consumer behavior that
determines procurement of products relying on critical metals and minerals. The associated plenary lecture will
illustrate some examples of how processing of critical metals and minerals could develop if a stronger ethos of
corporate purpose was adopted and will illustrate specific examples of the drivers.
INTRODUCTION
The efficient processing of minerals to produce salable
products that can be traded commodities can be measured
in different ways that might focus on data from at least four
types of efficiency measures: metallurgical, energy, operat-
ing cost, and environmental sustainability. The key question
for the minerals processing community is “which approach
should be optimized and how”? One smart, or bland,
answer is “all of them as best we can.” But is this approach
tenable for the future and what direction should the min-
erals engineering community set out to achieve? The sec-
tor is diverse, it demands levels of capital expenditure and
development timescales that are substantial and, therefore,
require robust considerations of risk.
We will focus on critical minerals and metals. Global
demand and the societal need for minerals and metals
places mineral processing at the heart of the energy transi-
tion agenda. Practices to enhance the sustainability of min-
erals processing are part of a global green innovation supply
chain. This is a complex system of systems. What do we
even mean by sustainability of minerals processing opera-
tions? In an actuarial sense, the mining and processing of
‘electric metals and minerals’ have a destiny to offset car-
bon emission in their subsequent use. Is the rush for ‘elec-
tric minerals’ going to accelerate low carbon processing or
excuse it? The mineral processing community has a strong
role to play here, and intentionally provocative discussion
and consequent decisions are needed if we are to set out and
deliver future pathways for shaping the future.
The Demand for Electric Minerals and Metals
Current societal demand for electrical infrastructure and
transportation systems demands more metals and some
critical metals, needed to form batteries and as essential
components in devices such as fuel cells. Electrification
inevitably drives mineral resource demand as, currently, an
electric vehicle demands at least six-fold increase in mined
content and onshore wind requires at least nine times more
A Delivery Pathway to Sustainable Minerals Processing—
The Future Impact of Research and Innovation
Richard A Williams, Faig Gasimov, Mittran G Krishanan
Heriot-Watt University, UK
ABSTRACT: The paper and plenary lecture seek to address three key questions on the mind of the minerals
processing community. ‘Where do we see ourselves in the green innovation chain?’ ‘How do we reconcile the
dilemma of driving increased production to satisfy the demands for electrical metals and minerals versus the
need to focus on redesign to assure rapid transition to net-zero operation?’ and, ‘How might we expect change to
be driven as we look to a future where corporate purpose and societal benefit are better aligned?’ Based on some
examples in the global extraction of copper and lithium, six main drivers for change are proposed based on possible
scenarios of future metal market, trends in the public trust in corporations and future consumer behavior that
determines procurement of products relying on critical metals and minerals. The associated plenary lecture will
illustrate some examples of how processing of critical metals and minerals could develop if a stronger ethos of
corporate purpose was adopted and will illustrate specific examples of the drivers.
INTRODUCTION
The efficient processing of minerals to produce salable
products that can be traded commodities can be measured
in different ways that might focus on data from at least four
types of efficiency measures: metallurgical, energy, operat-
ing cost, and environmental sustainability. The key question
for the minerals processing community is “which approach
should be optimized and how”? One smart, or bland,
answer is “all of them as best we can.” But is this approach
tenable for the future and what direction should the min-
erals engineering community set out to achieve? The sec-
tor is diverse, it demands levels of capital expenditure and
development timescales that are substantial and, therefore,
require robust considerations of risk.
We will focus on critical minerals and metals. Global
demand and the societal need for minerals and metals
places mineral processing at the heart of the energy transi-
tion agenda. Practices to enhance the sustainability of min-
erals processing are part of a global green innovation supply
chain. This is a complex system of systems. What do we
even mean by sustainability of minerals processing opera-
tions? In an actuarial sense, the mining and processing of
‘electric metals and minerals’ have a destiny to offset car-
bon emission in their subsequent use. Is the rush for ‘elec-
tric minerals’ going to accelerate low carbon processing or
excuse it? The mineral processing community has a strong
role to play here, and intentionally provocative discussion
and consequent decisions are needed if we are to set out and
deliver future pathways for shaping the future.
The Demand for Electric Minerals and Metals
Current societal demand for electrical infrastructure and
transportation systems demands more metals and some
critical metals, needed to form batteries and as essential
components in devices such as fuel cells. Electrification
inevitably drives mineral resource demand as, currently, an
electric vehicle demands at least six-fold increase in mined
content and onshore wind requires at least nine times more