ESG Focus Lowers Environmental Impact From Gold Miners
September 01 2022 - 7:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Yusuf Khan
A stronger focus on greener and social principles is helping the
gold mining industry to lower its impact upon the environment,
according to a new report by precious-metals consultancy Metals
Focus.
According to the report, which covers roughly 30% of global gold
production, scope one and two greenhouse gas emissions fell 1% on
year in 2021 to 27,617 ktCO2e, with the industry's largest names
such as Newmont Corp. and Barrick Gold Corp. aiming to cut
emissions by 30% by 2030.
Despite the reduction, gold mining was estimated to have
accounted for 0.3% of global GHG emissions in 2021, according to
the consultancy.
Water usage fell 5% on year in 2021--particularly key in helping
to ensure communities around mine sites have access. Water is key
in gold production, widely used for example to recover gold from
dust.
That said, energy consumption from miners had risen 6% on year,
according to the report, although this was attributed to recovery
from disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Similarly, energy
use from gold production was up 4% in 2021.
Metals Focus said energy usage has risen significantly since
2014 on "higher output from energy intensive mines and declining
average gold grades."
The consultancy added that gold miners were coming under
increasing scrutiny to improve upon environmental, social and
governance principles, largely because of more investment in the
area.
"Some large fund management groups are now refusing to invest in
certain types of mining companies, such as coal producers, because
of their environmental impact," Metals Focus said in the
report.
Write to Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 01, 2022 07:14 ET (11:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024