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19th April 2023

Signature Series - Dr Éléonore Lèbre (Sustainable Minerals Institute, UQ) - Complex orebodies: Using spatial data to understand the ESG context around mining projects

Complex orebodies — Using spatial data to understand the ESG context around mining projects by Dr Éléonore Lèbre



Dr Éléonore Lèbre, Research Fellow, Sustainable Minerals Institute, Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, The University of Queensland, Australia presents a COEMinerals Signature Series lecure:

Complex orebodies — Using spatial data to understand the ESG context around mining projects


Presentation Overview:

As low-carbon energy technologies advance, markets are driving demand for energy transition metals. Increased extraction rates for these metals will augment the stress placed on people and the environment in mining locations. To quantify this stress, a set of global composite environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators was developed to examine mining projects across 20 metal commodities and identify the co-occurrence of ESG risk factors. This approach relies on high-resolution spatial datasets to understand the local context around mining developments. Findings from the study show that 84% of platinum resources and 70% of cobalt resources are located in high-risk contexts. Reflecting heightened demand, major metals like iron and copper are set to disturb more land. Jurisdictions extracting energy transition metals in low-risk contexts are positioned to develop and maintain safeguards against mining-related social and environmental risk factors

Presenter Biography
Dr. Éléonore Lèbre is a Research Fellow at the University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute, Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining. She is a recipient of the 2022 Discovery Early Career Researcher Award from the Australian Research Council. Her research centres on using global spatial data to develop an understanding of the social, environmental and governance context around mineral resource extractive sites. She connects with topical issues such as the clean energy transition, critical minerals, deep sea mining, and tailings dam failures. Dr. Lèbre has a Ph.D. in Industrial Ecology from the Sustainable Minerals Institute’s Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation. Her thesis focuses on circular economy initiatives in the mining industry, following objectives of waste minimization and resource efficiency.