Socio-environmental implications of the decarbonization of copper and lithium mining and mineral processing

Abstract

Minerals and metals will play an important role in adapting to climate change and keeping the increase in global average temperature below 2C as they are essential to the transition to low-carbon energy, electromobility and 4.0 technologies. This is a great opportunity, but there are great challenges involved in preventing this climate contribution from being greater than the potential impacts resulting from increased production.This study aims to identify the potential social and environmental impacts of decarbonization actions that can be integrated into the operational processes of copper and lithium mining. In addition, the list of identified impacts was also linked with the indicator framework currently used to assess sustainability in different contexts (social, environmental, and economic).The selection and analysis of the articles are based on the Systematic Analysis of Literature, which is based on the following steps: Identification, Screening, Eligibility, and Inclusion. The actions were broken down into 5 categories: a) Electrification, b) Change of fuel, c) Circular economy, d) Promotion of low-carbon energy generation, and e) Technological changes for energy efficiency. Then they were linked to each of the operating processes of copper and lithium mining (brine and spodumene). Finally, to learn about potential social and environmental impacts of the decarbonization actions in the copper and lithium mining industry, 2 sustainability indicator frameworks were added: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).Of a total of 5 categories associated with decarbonization issues in energy-intensive industries, 56 actions were identified as the contribution that these industries can make to climate change. However, only 26 of these actions managed to be linked to copper and lithium mining. The document links the SDG and GRI indicators with the identified environmental and social impacts of decarbonization actions.It has been demonstrated that the mining industry, due to its operational characteristics, has direct socio-environmental impacts on the intervention sites and has been managed with different strategies (e.g., management, technology). This study also provides evidence that decarbonization of this industry as an end-user of low-carbon technologies will have socio-environmental implications in the supply chain of these technologies.