Now in its fourth year, the Future Minerals Forum (FMF) has evolved into a global conversation about shaping the future of minerals, bringing together leaders from government, industry and other stakeholders to develop initiatives to increase the production of minerals needed for economic development and electrification of countries to meet carbon reduction goals.

This was indicated by FMF content and strategy director Aldo Pennini, speaking to Mining Weekly in the build-up to the forum, which will run this week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

This year, these initiatives include, firstly, the Ministerial Roundtable component of the forum considering a Draft International Critical Minerals Framework. 

This framework aimed to bring governments, countries and other stakeholders together in a structured manner to develop resilient and responsible supply chains, especially in a period of global fragmentation, he emphasised.

Pennini said this framework would include several enablers, including investment in production, infrastructure and geological work; policy alignment; innovation and deployment of technology at scale; talent development; and responsible supply, both from a decarbonisation perspective and enhancing transparency.

For the latter, this would entail developing a traceability scheme which is set to be piloted for testing.

“This framework is a roadmap for international action.”  

He noted that several value chains had been prioritised, with the aim to identify key projects to unlock supply.

These could range from infrastructure, to energy, transport and water projects in these value chains and to test partnership approaches that could help unlock these large investments.

A funding roadmap is being targeted for these projects this year, with the development process to unfold this year ahead of their launch next year.

Based on how these pilots unfold, there are plans to expand this approach globally.

Another initiative entails building capacity across supply countries, especially in terms of talent development, technology and sustainability.

Therefore, a network of centres of excellence is being developed, with announcements set to be made about this over the course of the FMF, regarding the first clusters coming together to form a network.

Pennini explained that nine agreements would be signed during the FMF for this network, with talent, technology and sustainability hubs in Morocco, Saudi Arabia and South Africa set to link up over time with the rest of the world.

Another initiative entails putting forward a series of priorities for responsible supply. This aims to ensure that international rules and standards better reflect regional local realities in producing countries.

He also mentioned that several government-to-government agreements, and business-to-business partnership announcements were set to be made at the FMF.

“FMF 2025 will be a real boost to the minerals sector, kicking off a new year.”

He added that progress achieved from these initiatives would be used to bolster work done by the FMF.

*Tasneem Bulbulia is attending the forum as a guest of the FMF.