Copper mines such as Rio Tinto’s The Bingham Canyon Mine on the outskirts of Salt Lake City is on the front lines of America’s transition to clean energy.
According to S&P Global, global demand for copper, a major component of electric vehicles, is expected to increase from 25 million tons to nearly 49 million tons by 2035.
But miners face many issues as they ramp up production, including addressing local stakeholder concerns, mitigating environmental damage and operating in remote parts of the world.
“This shift is going to create real problems over the next decade,” said Tyler Broda, metals and mining analyst at RBC Capital Markets. “For these companies, maintaining The current level of production is very, very difficult.”
Rio Tinto Group, headquartered in Australia and the United Kingdom, is one of the world’s largest mining companies with projects in 35 countries/regions. The company owns 17 iron ore mines in Western Australia that produce steel materials, as well as mines that produce aluminum, diamonds and boron (a component used in smartphones).
So what is Rio Tinto doing to boost production at its key minerals operations? CNBC took a behind-the-scenes look at Rio Tinto’s Utah operations to find out.
Watch the video to learn more.
Svlook
