Resourcing Tomorrow, brought to you by Mines and Money London 2022 came back with a bang, pushing sustainability and ESG higher on the agenda than ever before by introducing the key theme, Resourcing Tomorrow.
The Organisers took great strides to ensure the green energy transition, ESG and decarbonisation played a central role in this year’s agenda, recognising the part the mining industry has to play in ensuring the sustainable production of commodities but also producing the key metals required for a greener future.
The conference was divided into three streams: Resourcing Tomorrow, Mines and Money and Reimagining Mining, forming a new, innovative structure to the event. The mining industry is undergoing rapid changes; as such, the Mines and Money forum looks to help facilitate stakeholder engagement and forge a clear path for the wider industry as it heads towards a more responsible future. With this in mind, the Resourcing Tomorrow platform was born, intended to address coming issues facing the mining industry and facilitate conversations which drive meaningful progress and keep sustainability at the fore.
The Mines and Money London platform supplied a more traditional stage to spotlight junior mining firms and hosted numerous investment panels. While the Reimagining Mining stream provided a forum for technologists and innovative ideas to be disseminated, highlighting the ways technological advancement can jointly protect our environment and invigorate the mining industry.
The conference received a strong showing 2355 delegates in attendance, with mining leaders, decision-makers, investors, government officials, policymakers and innovators all having the opportunity to attend a wide array of presentations and discussions.
This year’s conference boasted a record number of female speakers, with more than 60 industry leaders and expert commentators providing insight and commentary, a strong step forward in providing a platform for female voices in a traditionally male-dominated industry.
The dialogue tables worked tremendously in providing an arena for industry experts to discuss prevalent issues, such as whether ESG has evolved to be more than a simple box-ticking exercise, what opportunities in the silver industry hold and how to spot greenwashing.
“From our point of view, 2022 has been our strongest year yet; we’ve ensured that our rebranding did not start and end with a name change but a fundamental shift in the priorities of this event. I would also like to highlight the Resourcing Tomorrow team for their hard work in putting together a fantastic event!” said Andrew Thake, Divisional Director
Day one kicked off with a keynote speech from Rohitesh Dhawan, President and CEO of the International Council for Metals and Mining (ICMM), who discussed why resourcing tomorrow is so important for everyone on the planet. At the same time, HE Vice Minister Khalid Al Mudaifer, gave an engaging keynote address on the mining and investment potential of Saudia Arabia, a relatively new source of potential commodity production.
Non-Executive Director and FFI Global Ambassador, Elizabeth Gianes discussed the steps Fortescue Minerals Group is taking to decarbonise its business by 2030. Key themes of the day surround rethinking mineral supply chains and digitalisation, while the first two rounds of Pitch Battles began with Battery and Critical Metals and Gold and Precious Metals, which were a hit.
Mark Bristow, President and CEO of global gold major, Barrick Gold, on ‘What needs to change in exploration today to meet the demands of Resourcing Tomorrow?’. Talks were also held on automation, Sustainable Development Goals, and the final heats of the Pitch Battles too place between Base Metals and Gold and Precious Metals, providing a knockout debate.
