The New South Wales Minister for Finance and Natural Resources Courtney Houssos has launched the new Minerals Processing Roadmap, laying out a vision for sustainable copper mining.
The roadmap is a collaboration between the resources sector, NSW Government, universities, the mining technology industry and the International Copper Association Australia (ICAA) to reach net-zero in copper mining.
“Copper is key to a greener, smarter world but mining has to embrace innovation to cut emissions going forward,” ICAA chief executive officer John Fennell said.
“The Minerals Processing Roadmap accepts this isn’t going to be easy, but shows what can be achieved with widespread collaboration, knowledge sharing and a systems thinking approach.”
The roadmap identifies five mineral processing themes that can be changed to accomodate net-zero solutions. These themes include emerging novel processing solutions, digital and automation technologies, and waste stream processes.
“Every copper producer and each copper operation will face its own pathway to decarbonisation, but Minerals Processing suggests just what can done together,” Fennell said.
The roadmap will identify how each partner can work with stakeholders to embrace innovation and speed up collaboration, knowledge and impact in order to reach net-zero quicker.
Copper will be a key player in decarbonisation as it helps to deliver clean energy and electrification. The roadmap comes on the heels of the Federal Government’s Critical Minerals Strategy, announced in June this year.