What does responsible mining looks like now, and into the future? The collective effort required to address the ‘hearts and minds’ challenges that exist in sentiments about mining.

Ahead of her upcoming keynote presentation at the International Future Mining Conference 2024, we spoke with Danielle Martin the Co-Chief Operating Officer and Director of Social Performance at ICMM, to discuss the importance of redefining ‘responsible mining’ to ensure mining’s future success.

Danielle shares that regardless of the necessity of mining, we cannot mine at all costs. Read her thought-provoking perspectives below.

What will your keynote presentation at #FutureMining2024 address?

Few would argue that the mining industry of the future needs innovation and technology in how it finds and develops mines and produces the minerals and metals the world needs – for the energy transition and our ongoing social and economic development.

This is particularly so in the face of increased demand for critical minerals, more complex and challenging locations and orebodies, and decreasing social acceptance of the benefit-impact equation of mining.

But there’s a lot more riding on mining’s future success than innovative and technically advanced mining techniques. Better and more consistent E-S-G performance (with no greenwashing), more equitable participation of host and land-owning communities (built on respect and trust), and a safer and more diverse workforce is fundamental.

There’s also some work for us to do on how people feel about mining that will be essential to the collaboration and partnerships we need for the future.

GlobeScan, an independent public analysis firm, has been asking people annually for 20 years to rate different sectors on the extent to which they fulfil their responsibilities to society. In 2023, mining ranked last, below oil & gas. It has always been at or near the bottom pretty much since the data was first collected in 2002. This is the only global dataset for mining we have, and it is asking a very specific question about extent of fulfilling responsibilities to society.

Similarly, we know graduates, women in their mid-careers and other workers are “voting with their feet” and seemingly walking in the opposite direction to a career in mining in many parts of the world. Graduate enrolments in mining degrees have drastically reduced in Australia, Canada and the US, and the UK now has no undergraduate mining course, having once been a global leader.

So we know, in addition to continue to drive for better E-S-G performance for future mining, we also have a perception – and trust – issue to face. 

My presentation will explore what responsible mining looks like now, and in the future, and what it might take to address the ‘hearts and minds’ challenges that exist in sentiments about mining.

“Regardless of the necessity of mining, we cannot mine at all costs – we have to continue to redefine what ‘responsible mining’ means if mining is going to be able to fulfil the role society needs it to now and in the future. ”

What key points do you hope delegates will take away from your keynote presentation?

Mining has an essential role in the world’s energy transition and our social and economic development – people know this, but they largely don’t engage with this fact or necessarily feel good about it.

Regardless of the necessity of mining, we cannot mine at all costs – we have to continue to redefine what ‘responsible mining’ means if mining is going to be able to fulfil the role society needs it to now and in the future.

Fundamentals of better E-S-G performance, greater transparency and accountability, meeting the commitments we sign up for and appropriately continuing to raise those bars, are essential for mining for the future.

And then we need some reimagining of how we currently do things that are either not making progress or not meeting expectations - more equitable participation of affected people and host communities, a safer and more diverse workforce, how we acknowledge our legacy and work towards remedying past harm to people and the planet, are just a few examples.

These thoughts may not be novel – people might have heard similar before – but as we know, in this fast-paced world, the future is now and I would argue we are not responding quickly enough to these challenges.

Looking to the future, what do you see as the most significant social performance challenges and opportunities for the mining sector?

I’ve touched on this already, there is no doubt mining is getting harder and harder:

• the ‘easy’ resources have already been developed
• NIMBY (not in my back yard) is ever present and possibly increasing with greater development of renewable projects
• society doesn’t always consider that the cost-benefit equation for mining is appropriately balanced
• host and land-owning communities don’t always feel like they are, or can, equitably participate
• people working in mining continue to get hurt, or worse, including through instances of bullying, harassment and assault mainly against women, but also other underrepresented groups, and in any event lack of diversity, equity and inclusion that hinders the contribution mining makes to society.

Our industry’s challenge is the capability to meet these increasingly complex issues, particularly in the social space. There is also a need for greater investment by mining companies in social sciences and cognitive skills. This is a serious constraint to our ability to reimagine how we do things and to changing hearts and minds of people who don’t see the value of mining.

“My prediction for the future is that unless we see mining as a more inclusive activity enabling social development, in which participation is more equitable, control over decisions that affect people are shared, and commitments made and met, then it will be hard for mining to fulfil the role society needs it to, and for society to embrace the industry for the broad contribution it makes. ”

What changes have you seen throughout your career, and do you have any predictions for the future?

There is no doubt that the mining industry has revolutionised its approach to the way we conduct social and human rights assessments, better understanding the impacts and opportunities of projects; the way we design and develop social investment programs; and the way we adopt technology to increase transparency and stakeholder participation in projects.

But there are some areas in which our progress has been slow. For example, we still find it difficult to meaningfully engage affected peoples and other stakeholders; we find it difficult to work in proper partnerships on social development such as with governments and civil society organisations; and we still struggle with the need to gain consent from Indigenous Peoples for impacts on their rights.

My prediction for the future is that unless we see mining as a more inclusive activity enabling social development, in which participation is more equitable, control over decisions that affect people are shared, and commitments made and met, then it will be hard for mining to fulfil the role society needs it to, and for society to embrace the industry for the broad contribution it makes.

We can reshape this way.

What are you looking forward to most about the upcoming conference?

I can’t wait to hear from Maki about how BHP is thinking and acting different in product development, from Hemant and Luke who are bring space concepts to the discussions and of course the panel sessions look great and give us the opportunity to hear from a plethora of speakers.

The International Future Mining Conference 2024 has a really interesting and wide-ranging agenda and a line-up of insightful speakers, and of course there are the networking opportunities to really optimise attendee’s participation!

Don’t miss Danielle Martin’s keynote presentation at the International Future Mining Conference 2024

This exciting conference will bring together future-focussed mining professionals, global leaders and academics for a 3-day technical program as we prepare to shape the future of mining together.

Join co-hosts AusIMM and UNSW in Sydney from the 2—4 September. Learn more’.