Australian miners will open a zero-carbon mine.
Mining is notoriously dirty and invasive, and everything we need in modern society somehow comes from a mine. Concerned with climate and with a proactive attitude, the mining company Oz Minerals is set on developing a new, clean, carbon neutral mine in a remote part of Western Australia, the West Musgrave project.
West Musgrave will produce nickel and copper in a sustainable way. These two substances are essential for the low-carbon economy that we so urgently need. Nickel is used in batteries and copper is needed for transmission of power. By the way, it is only logical that what is needed for a cleaner world, is also produced sustainably. The entire supply chain must be clean.
So what will be different in this mine?
- The mining activities will be powered by a 100% renewable on-site power plant.
- the mining fleet (the machinery, trucks, etc.) will be zero-emissions.
Moreover, Oz Minerals also aims to reduce the impact of its other mining activities, for example at Prominent Hill. As CEO Andrew Cole says "Our primary focus is to clean up our own backyard and actually focus on the things that we can control".
Also other mining companies, like Fortescue Metals Group, are reinventing their business model, and aim to replace diesel by Green Hydrogen, that they will produce themselves (combustion of hydrogen doesn't produce greenhouse gases, and in the case of 'green hydrogen', the hydrogen itself is produced without fossil fuels).
Picture: Pexels.
Article by Kathelijne Bonne.
Good Climate News is an initiative of three sisters from Belgium: Helena, Elisabeth and Kathelijne. "We believe in the power of good news".
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