The immediate need to reduce carbon emissions in mining and mineral processing is becoming a business necessity and as our exclusive data shows many companies are tackling the challenge head on.
The Mining Journal Intelligence Mining Company ESG Index found that 61 of the biggest mining companies by market cap emitted 230Mt of CO2 equivalent emissions in 2023, based on the companies' own Scope 1 and 2 data. This is about 0.4% of all global carbon emissions.
The inaugural Mining Company ESG Index covers more than 7000 data points, evaluates 61 of the world's largest mining companies through nine weighted indicators across six critical pillars: Carbon emissions, Water, Land disturbance, Safety, Diversity and Social investment.
State of play towards green mining
The Mining Company ESG Index shows that while the industry has ambitious targets to cut emissions, progress has been marginal and patchy.
The top-10 emitters, as expected, include some the largest global mining companies, with Rio Tinto topping the list at 32.6Mt, 14.2% of all emissions reported by the 61 companies indexed.
Rio Tinto's emissions top the list in part due to the energy-intensive aluminium-processing operations the company has in its portfolio.
Glencore, BHP, and Anglo American also rank among the top emitters based on their Scope 1 and 2 numbers.
Leaders in the path to green mining
The least carbon-intensive producer was Lundin Gold. The Fruta del Norte mine in Ecuador, the company's sole producing asset, had a Scope 1 and 2 intensity of 0.08 tCO2e/oz gold, the lowest of any gold miner in the Mining Company ESG Index.
To see the full list of the least carbon-intensive producers get the report here.
BHP, the largest miner by market cap, paves its own story of success with the biggest reduction in emissions from 2021-2023, down 39.9%.
This was achieved mainly by securing renewable electricity power purchase agreements (PPAs), which drove down Scope 2 emissions.
What about Scope 3?
Scope 3, which refers to a company's indirect GHG emissions accruing in its value chain, was reported by only 43 companies out of the 61 in the Mining Company ESG Index.
Scope 3 has proven challenging due to different measuring methods and patchy supplier reporting. The data in the Index reflect the challenge, with a huge range of Scope 3 emissions reported. Among the 43 reporting companies, total Scope 3 emissions were estimated at 4.7Bt in 2023.
More about the Mining Company ESG Index
The path towards green mining was only one of the pillar themes of the research, with all companies benchmarked across the nine environmental, social and governance indicators.
To access the full report today click here. To watch a recording of our webinar to mark the launch of the report click here.
