By Christopher Davis and Dan Lalor

March 21, 2018 - The ideal ore mine of the future would deliver higher-quality material, have a smaller environmental footprint and operate without tailings dams, Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani said Wednesday.

Cutifani, speaking during the FT Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne, Switzerland, said the mining industry has not altered the way it operates for decades, and that approach was not sustainable.

"We really have not changed much of what we do -- we have just gotten bigger or we have automated," he said. "That is not real innovation."

The size of typical ore bodies necessitated large-scale operations for the most part, Cutifani said, but "in the future we are going to have to be a lot more laser-like in the way we operate", while making exploration and material processing more efficient.

For instance, rather than grinding ore to a fine matter, "grind it to chili flakes and use 40% less energy," he said, and because it is not as fine, the reliance on metallic dams could be eliminated within the next 10 years.

Preconditioning ore before presenting it to mills could also enhance grade qualities by 30%-40%, Cutifani said.

"I think in the next 20 years that transformation is going to be significant because it has to be," he said.

More must be done to improve relationships with the communities where miners operate, including closer partnerships with NGOs and local governments, he said.

"I think we, as an industry, have to change the dialogue around our industry," Cutifani said. "It is about explaining in simple terms the contribution we make to society. It is in our hands, in terms of changing that dialogue, and I do not think we are doing enough of it."

London-based Anglo American, with mining interests ranging from iron ore, coal and copper to diamonds and platinum, launched a new sustainability strategy last week that included a target of creating or facilitating five jobs in the communities where it operates mines for every one job created in its mining complexes, Cutifani said.

The commitment comes as Anglo American and the mining industry have navigated a number of challenges in recent years, from increased pricing volatility to shifting market dynamics.

And as miners find themselves in the midst of an upturn, Cutifani said "leaders in the industry have become more rational in their behavior" than in the past.

"There is a more cautious approach to capital deployment," he said. "I think there are a lot of lessons being learned."

One of the key lessons Cutifani said he has learned was a simple one.

"That what goes up does come down," he said. "The key point is just a matter of when." 

CoalZoom.com - Your Foremost Source for Coal News