While the African mining industry faces a range of challenges, it also has a real opportunity to harness technology and financing support for renewable energy and green projects and teach the rest of the world how to build sustainable mines from the ground up, say mining experts Matthew Johnson and Lachlan Poustie.
“There’s nothing stopping African mining from utilising best practices and everything that’s out there at the moment and being a real poster child for how to set up a sustainable, low-carbon or no-carbon mining project that’s going to last for a long period of time,” says Johnson, Mining Sector Lead for global firm A&O Shearman. “While there may be struggles with long-term transition on older mines, certainly with new mine developments and expansions, it’s a great way to show the world how to actually do it.”
The path to sustainability seems to be on everyone’s radar in African mining, says Lachlan Poustie, a partner in A&O Shearman’s Paris office. From the biggest mining companies to governments to financiers, particularly when it comes to developing new mines.
“Clients are certainly thinking about how over time they move towards Net Zero,” he says. “Plans are being put in place, and people are taking active steps to make sure they’re Net Zero ready at the mine site. There are two main drivers: the miners themselves have their own targets and want to announce progress toward achieving those targets to the market, and DFIs and other financiers are pushing strongly in the Net Zero direction, and making sure people have a proper plan to get there.”
Johnson and Poustie say most of the African mining work they’ve been involved in shows that sustainability is front of mind for most stakeholders, however sustainability goes beyond cleaner emissions, and that can provide challenges that need to be navigated.
“There’s sustainability relating to impact on the environment, and there’s sustainability with regard to extending mine life,” says Johnson, who will moderate the first panel, ‘Mining and Energy: Forging Alliances for a Sustainable Future’ at the upcoming GC Forum Extractives in Cape Town on 5 February 2025. “Then the other critical components of sustainability, including the use of technology, diversity and education of the workforce. All those things have moved on significantly in the last couple of years.”
Government buy-in is vital, say Johnson and Poustie; it’s all very well having renewable energy sources if your investment agreement requires a new mine to take power off the national grid, and that power is coming from dirty power stations. Likewise, for governments or local communities, employment rather than emissions may be the biggest issue, which will require educating people on why a cleaner mine that provides less jobs is a good thing overall, or how technology that replaces some jobs will create different jobs.
Poustie and Johnson are both really looking forward to discussing these issues and more at the upcoming GC Forum Extractives. “It’s a great occasion to catch up with people and exchange ideas,” says Poustie. “To think about the challenges we’re dealing with, and what some solutions might be. Discussing them and testing them and seeing what works.”
For more information on the 2025 GC Forum | Extractives please visit www.gcforumextractives.com
Please note this event is now full.