South Africa: The Future of Mining Depends On the Industry's Ability to Finance Itself

opinion

It is perhaps ironic that as the world moves toward a cleaner future, more mining is projected to take place to facilitate the just energy transition.

The just energy transition is a fundamental shift in how the world generates power and continues to be a major disruptor in the mining and metals sector.

While the world's energy mix is changing, there is broad acceptance that a green energy future relies on minerals to deliver it. Batteries, solar power and other pillars of clean energy technology are not possible without rare earth metals (and some of the old favourites) to manufacture them, while the likes of coal and oil continue to power human society with the transition under way.

According to Guillaume Pitron, author of The Rare Metals War, more mineral ores will be mined in the next 30 years than in the last 70,000 for humanity to meet the exponential demand for minerals crucial to the energy transition. Resource exhaustion at current mines will therefore drive increased exploration and the opening of new operations.

As the mining industry grapples with this changing reality, a question that has been simmering under the surface of the transition and is on the minds of mining companies worldwide - "How do we finance the future?"

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