By Paul Gorman
Transparency in the mining sector is being driven by technology which allows both better reporting on crucial sustainability targets and integration of specialist knowledge.
That’s the analysis of Accenture EMA Mining Lead for Data & AI, Liv Carroll.
Carroll said the shift to being agile with new technologies and being able to receive insights of information during daily work required a change in mindset and ways of working.
Technology was changing ESG (environmental, social, and governance) reporting from a compliance exercise to a business advantage.
‘ESG is still something that all mining companies are now addressing as a day to day, as opposed to under the banner of sustainability, as it used to be. Where technology supports that is in giving us first the visibility, that transparency, the data, to be able to report on ESG.
‘But it is not just reporting on ESG. It is actually being able to execute the ESG-related initiatives and then demonstrate the achievements, based on the actions of that company. Without that visibility, that transparency, it’s promises and decorations made by a company that then doesn’t have the data to back that.
That’s the key thing that technology is enabling.’
Technology was enabling the specialists in the different areas to better communicate, she said.
‘What we are seeing now is a much more integrated approach, particularly to environmental and social.
‘The mining industry is absolutely fundamental to our greener, more sustainable, future.’