The mining industry needs to improve its use of new technologies to respond to data requirements from market users looking to update Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) targets, a panel of experts has said.

Speaking at a London Metal Exchange (LME) conference in London on Monday, Wouter de Groot, head of sustainability, public affairs and external communication at mining services provider FLSmidth, said an increase in technology adoption was needed to help meet sustainability targets.  

“One of the challenges that we are seeing today is that to achieve the change in approach we need to accelerate,” de Groot said. “The mining and minerals sector needs to think about how we can accelerate the adoption of new technologies across the value chain. The challenge that we have seen in the mining sector for many years is that no one wants to go in and try new technologies, they are looking to others to do that. One of the key things for us is to find ways to apply the technologies, work together across the value chain, and understand the demands that are coming from downstream networks.”

He also said the nature of ESG related data requests has changed over the years.

“That is the change we have seen over the last few years, where our focus has traditionally been to deliver productivity and sustainability solutions for customers but now with the new wave of target setting and requirements coming in, we are seeing new demands from customers that are not necessarily focussing on what we can do for their mining operations but also the environmental and social footprint of our own operations,” he added.

“The challenge with that is that these requests come in different shapes and forms, and we don’t necessarily carry that data in fit for purpose formats, so these data requests are difficult to deliver today. In order to move forward, standards, frameworks and harmonisation of how and which data we collect is crucial for the industry to demonstrate progress.”

Adam Johnson, raw material manager at Jaguar Land Rover Finance, agreed that progress was needed to update data provision in the industry.

“Trying to consolidate data from different origins across the world in the global businesses is definitely a hurdle, so some consistency is needed there, but technology can certainly help enable that,” he said. “So we’re hoping that portability and enabling these data feeds can help improve reliability in data that can be passed on to customers and allow to make decisions.”

Earlier in the day, the LME announced that it has expanded its sustainability portal, called LMEpassport, to include carbon emissions data for non-LME grade metal, as well as integrating new artisanal mining standards and scrap metal attestations. The service was launched in August last year.

Matthew Chamberlain, chief executive of the LME, said in a statement: “With disclosures now in their hundreds, we are starting to see our commitment to transparency and comparability in sustainability data develop in a meaningful way.”

LMEpassport currently has 210 brands and 350 disclosures listed on LMEpassport, it said in a release.