• Seventeen critical minerals, including copper and lithium, will shape the fate of the planet

The low-carbon future and the energy transition will cause an exponential increase in the demand for 17 minerals, Nicole Bernex, senior professor of Geography and Environment at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru [Pontifical Catholic University of Peru], stated at the fourth edition of Rumbo a PERUMIN, an event organized by the Peruvian Institute of Mining Engineers (IIMP).

Thus, based on estimates by the International Energy Agency and the World Bank, she pointed out that the production of renewable energies and the manufacture of electric vehicles will push global consumption of critical minerals from 40 million to 140 million tons per year by 2050, i.e., a substantial increase of 350%.

In addition, she highlighted that although minerals are necessary inputs for the manufacture of technological devices and components, such as mobile phone batteries, the latter take between 450 to 1000 years to degrade, which is why it is essential to recycle them properly in order to protect the planet, as well as to raise awareness of the recycling process and subsequent uses.

She also underscored that strengthening the value chain of medium and large-scale mining in relation to climate change and atmospheric decarbonization will contribute positively to protecting biodiversity and nature, which should be considered by all as the common heritage of humanity and the most important safety net for life.

The mining identity must be recovered

In another part of her presentation, Nicole Bernex expressed her disappointment that contemporary Peruvian society has forgotten the importance of minerals in the growth and development of the country throughout its history, which has caused citizens to abandon their identity as a mining country and ignore its vast geological wealth as a driver of progress.

Therefore, she stressed that mining companies play a strategic role in promoting research, development and innovation activities in higher education centers, and they played a humanitarian role in the establishment of multinational partnerships for the acquisition of medical equipment and instruments to contain the spread of the pandemic.

Likewise, she emphasized that the mining industry is one of the main enablers supporting the installation and expansion of renewable energy plants. This, in turn, contributes to the fact that these plants could be built close to low-income communities and provide them with clean, reliable and economical electrical power to improve their quality of life.

From circular economy to symbiotic economy

Finally, Nicole Bernex held that the world is moving from a circular economy to a symbiotic economy, where organizations from different productive sectors cooperate to achieve mutual benefit by means of by-products, materials, energy and logistics, optimizing the use of resources and reducing waste.

In this regard, she highlighted that the mining industry has been involved over the last two decades in the treatment of wastewater and its subsequent diversion to agricultural fields; in the reprocessing of mineral tailings for the production of resistant construction materials; and in the management and reutilization of solid waste and its use for other purposes.