BUSTING SUSTAINABILITY MYTHS

AS THE MINING INDUSTRY NAVIGATES THE CLEAN-ENERGY TRANSITION, FLS CALLS ON MINERS TO TAKE A PAUSE TO OPTIMISE OPERATIONS.

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The mining industry must be adaptable if it hopes to thrive in a time of heightened sustainability and environmental demands, according to FLS Asia Pacific regional president Jason Elks.

Elks spoke to Australian Mining about the need for operational transformation to meet environmental, social, and governance (ESG) expectations and remain competitive in a market increasingly influenced by carbon regulation.

“Corporate governance and ESG compliance are no longer optional; boards understand this because legislation mandates it,” Elks said.

“However, many companies still prioritise increasing production year over year, which conflicts with the need to pause and reconfigure operations to be more sustainable.”

Elks believes this reluctance stems from a risk-averse mindset.

“People want to do what they did yesterday because it’s a known quantity,” he said.

“But you can’t make operations greener by sticking to old methods.

“To achieve real change, there must be a willingness to stop, rethink, and reconfigure.”

Case for pausing operations

Elks pointed out that implementing greener technologies sometimes requires a temporary halt in production.

This pause is often seen as an insurmountable challenge, but Elks argued that the long-term benefits far outweigh the short-term disruption.

“Imagine stopping operations for a few weeks to adopt new technology that could generate an additional 10 million tonnes of output annually, equating to $1 billion in revenue,” he said.

“In some cases, like with manganese operators using our technology, the payback period is as short as three and a half weeks.”

This quick return on investment highlights the financial and environmental benefits of embracing new solutions.