Speaking at the Energy and Mines Virtual World Congress on Tuesday, Newmont executive VP and chief Technology Officer Dean Gehring said the gold mining company was committed to spend $500 million on renewable energy projects by 2025.
Newmont plans to cut its Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions of GHGs by 30% or more by 2030 as climate risks mount and investors demand that mining companies reveal concrete plans for meeting emissions targets.
With the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) last month committing its member mining companies to a 30% carbon emissions reduction by 2030, Gehring said the industry did not have much time in hand given its capital intensity.
“It can take five to ten years to develop cutting-edge original equipment manufacturer technology,” he said to the 600 attendees at the event, which was moderated by Energy and Mines Director Adrienne Baker. “Besides having the capacity to deploy new technology, companies will need time to build the necessary infrastructure to support and operate that technology.”
With marquee global investors such as Blackrock equating climate risk with investment risk, at Newmont, the viability of any new project was being assessed “both from the financial and climate perspectives.”
According to Gehring, emission reduction costs would soon come to be an essential valuation metric for ascertaining project feasibility.
Source: Mining Weekly