Bjorn Dierx, Weir Minerals, the Netherlands, explains why greenfield projects are increasingly turning to high pressure grinding rolls technology to reduce their energy consumption, lower their greenhouse gas emissions, and improve their throughput capacity.
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he global mining industry must move away from legacy systems and processes if it is to meet the challenge of decarbonisation, according to a new report which calculates mining’s share of global energy consumption and identifies ways the industry can aid the transition to net zero emissions, in order to limit temperatures in line with the Paris Agreement. The report, commissioned by the Weir Group, quantifies energy use in five commodities: copper, gold, iron ore, nickel, and lithium. Bringing together mine energy use data from more than 40 published studies from 2007 to 2020 into a single
narrative (each of which references dozens more studies), the report aims to build a more comprehensive understanding of energy use in the mining industry. It shows that the total amount of power used by the mining industry – which plays an essential role providing the metals used at the heart of the modern economy – is equal to approximately 3.5% of global energy use. The metals produced by mining are critical for enabling the global transition to low-carbon infrastructure. However, without action, energy use in mining itself is set to trend higher in the coming years, as demand increases for the minerals required
global mining review // July/August 2021
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