Q&A Session with Carly Leonida

ABSTRACT

Everyone is a mining stakeholder, whether they realise it or not. Society’s usage of metals is so pervasive that, today, it’s virtually unavoidable. Our participation in metals supply chains and loops, whether actively or passively, consciously or unconsciously and in various capacities means that everyone has a right to better understand where metals come from, and how and by whom they are produced.

But, as things stand, that information is not readily available. To the average person, the production and supply of minerals and metals is not easily understood, or even fully traceable in many cases.

This opacity is just one reason for the lack of trust in mining companies today; we see the physical impacts of mining processes, but there is a link missing between extraction and the value it delivers.

Building bridges will take time and transparency. It requires better education for everyone, technologies and initiatives which untangle metal provenance, and companies that speak openly about their ESG performance, even when the truth is less than ideal. It requires investors who ask hard questions and apply heart as well as head in their decision making, and new business models that challenge the norm and deliver different types of value for different groups. On top of this, we need publications that make all of this information interesting and accessible for everyone.