Full documentary - Responsible Mining in Europe: A new paradigm to counter climate change

Summary

The video explores the European demand for electric vehicles and renewable energy, which necessitates mining for metals like lithium, nickel, and cobalt. Despite a negative perception of mining, the documentary highlights Sweden's Boliden as a model for ethical and responsible mining. Boliden uses green energy, prioritizes worker safety, and innovates to reduce environmental impact. It also repurposes mining waste into construction materials, aligning with the European Commission's push for sustainable mining practices. The film challenges the hypocrisy of wanting green technologies without supporting the necessary mining and advocates for a shift towards responsible mining to meet climate goals.

Takeaways

• 🌍 European demand for electric vehicles and green energy technologies is increasing, necessitating a significant boost in the mining of metals like lithium, nickel, and cobalt.
• 🏭 Despite a common misconception, Europe does possess resources for these metals, but there is resistance to local mining due to environmental and social concerns.
• 🔄 The push for ethical and responsible mining is growing, with a focus on reducing the environmental impact and ensuring social responsibility in mining operations.
• 🚀 The European dependency on imported metals for energy transition is nearly 100%, highlighting the urgency for local mining to achieve self-sufficiency and reduce vulnerability.
• 🔋 The International Energy Agency predicts a substantial increase in demand for metals like lithium and cobalt, emphasizing the need for new mining operations to meet future requirements.
• 🌿 Swedish mining company Boliden is showcased as a climate leader, implementing practices like electrified trucks and using green energy, setting an example for responsible mining.
• ♻️ Boliden is also working on innovative solutions for waste management, such as biolaching to recover valuable metals from tailings and converting waste into construction materials.
• 🏗️ The construction industry's potential to reduce its CO2 emissions is highlighted by the use of mining waste as a substitute for cement in concrete production.
• 🚧 Despite the technological and environmental advances, there are still significant barriers to opening new mines in Europe, including conservative standards and public perception.
• 🌱 The European Commission is advocating for ethical mining and is working towards creating conditions that allow the mining industry to be sustainable and competitive.

Q & A

What is the main concern Europeans have regarding mining for metals needed for electric vehicles and renewable energy?

Europeans want the benefits of electric vehicles and renewable energy, such as Teslas and wind turbines, but they are concerned about the environmental and social impacts of mining for the necessary metals within Europe, viewing it as hypocritical to not want mines in their backyard.

What is the significance of the term 'ethical mining' in the context of the script?

In the script, 'ethical mining' refers to the responsible and sustainable extraction of metals, ensuring that the process is environmentally friendly and socially responsible, aligning with European values for a green transition.

Why has Peter Tom Jones, a climate activist, changed his stance on mining?

Peter Tom Jones has changed his stance on mining because he recognizes the necessity of mining for metals like lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth to achieve climate neutrality through the rollout of electric vehicles, wind turbines, and batteries.

What is the current dependency of Europe on imports for energy transition metals, and why is this a concern?

Europe is almost 100% reliant on imports for energy transition metals from outside Europe. This dependency is a concern because it makes Europe vulnerable to supply chain disruptions and price volatility, as seen with the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

How does the Swedish mining company Boliden address the environmental concerns associated with mining?

Boliden addresses environmental concerns by using electrified trucks powered by green electricity from hydropower and wind, focusing on worker health and safety, using less reagents in production with lower environmental impact, and engaging in biodiversity projects to compensate for the loss at the mine site.

What is the significance of the 'multi-metal, zero waste approach' mentioned in the script?

The 'multi-metal, zero waste approach' signifies a mining strategy that aims to extract multiple metals from a single ore and repurpose waste products, such as tailings, into new materials, thereby minimizing waste and reducing the environmental footprint of mining operations.

What is the potential of using mining waste as a cement replacement in the construction industry?

The potential of using mining waste as a cement replacement is significant as it can reduce the CO2 footprint of concrete production by up to 20-60% depending on the reactivity of the tailings, contributing to lower carbon emissions in the construction industry.

What are the challenges faced in opening new mines in Europe despite the need for energy transition metals?

Challenges include public perception and resistance to mining within Europe due to environmental and social concerns, a lack of awareness about modern mining practices, and conservative European standards and legislation that hinder the adoption of new mining and construction materials.

How does the European Commission view the necessity of mining for energy transition metals within Europe?

The European Commission acknowledges the need for mining energy transition metals within Europe but emphasizes the importance of ethical and responsible mining practices, ensuring that mining is sustainable and competitive while meeting societal and environmental standards.

What is the role of gender and ethnic balance in the social responsibility of mining companies according to the script?

The script highlights that Boliden, a mining company, maintains a gender balance close to 50-50, with more than 50% female truck drivers, showcasing their commitment to social responsibility through inclusive hiring practices.

Outlines

00:00

🌍 European Dilemma: Desire for Green Tech vs. Mining Necessity

The paragraph discusses the European public's demand for electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies, while simultaneously opposing local mining operations that are essential for sourcing the required metals. It highlights the hypocrisy in desiring green technology without supporting the mining of necessary metals. The speaker, Peter Tom Jones, a climate activist and director of the K leuven Institute, argues for ethical mining and European self-sufficiency in metal production for a successful green transition. The paragraph also emphasizes the need for more mines to meet the Paris climate agreement goals, contrasting the European reliance on imported metals with the potential for responsible mining within the continent.

05:01

🚜 Innovative Mining Practices for Climate Leadership

This paragraph delves into the operations of Boliden, a Swedish mining company, and its efforts to become a climate leader as recognized by the Financial Times. It showcases the company's use of electrified trucks, which run on green energy sourced from hydropower and wind power, significantly reducing diesel consumption. The company also focuses on worker health and safety, production efficiency, and the use of less harmful reagents. Additionally, Boliden is involved in biodiversity projects to compensate for the environmental impact of mining. The paragraph highlights the company's efforts to address the tailings issue through a pilot plant that recovers valuable metals from mining residues, aiming for a near-zero waste approach.

10:04

🌿 European Metal Deposits and the Challenge of Resource Recovery

The paragraph features a discussion with Gwen gwezaneck of the French Geological Survey, addressing the misconception that Europe lacks energy transition metals. It points out that Europe does possess such metals, including rare earth elements, lithium, and cobalt, which are crucial for renewable energy technologies. However, the paragraph also acknowledges the technological challenges in recovering these metals and the limitations in meeting the full demand. The conversation underscores the importance of developing technology to extract these metals efficiently and the potential for Europe to reduce its dependency on external sources.

15:04

🏗️ Transforming Mining Waste into Sustainable Construction Materials

This paragraph discusses the potential of using mining waste as a sustainable alternative to traditional cement in the construction industry. It describes a pilot project where mining waste is used to create eco-friendly concrete, which could significantly reduce CO2 emissions. The conversation highlights the technical and legislative challenges in adopting such innovative materials, emphasizing the need for performance-based standards that focus on the end-use capabilities of materials rather than their composition. The paragraph concludes with a demonstration of the successful application of this new concrete, showcasing its potential to revolutionize the construction industry.

20:04

🌐 Societal Acceptance and the Future of Mining in Europe

The final paragraph explores the social acceptance of mining in Europe, contrasting the general resistance with the positive reception of mining operations in North Scandinavia. It touches on the importance of local commitment, gender and ethnic balance, and environmental responsibility in gaining public support for mining. The discussion includes the future of mining in Europe, with a focus on the need for sustainable and financially viable operations. The paragraph concludes with a light-hearted exchange about the potential for the mining site to become a recreational area after its operational life, symbolizing the harmonious integration of mining with nature and society.

Keywords

💡Ethical Mining

Ethical mining refers to the practice of extracting minerals in a manner that minimizes harm to the environment and ensures fair treatment of workers. In the video, the concept is highlighted as a desirable approach to mining, particularly in the context of Europe's desire for self-sufficiency in metal resources for green energy technologies. The video suggests that while Europeans want the benefits of electric vehicles and wind turbines, they are often against the mining activities necessary to produce the metals required for these technologies, which is seen as hypocritical. Ethical mining is presented as a solution to reconcile this contradiction.

💡Green Transition

The green transition refers to the shift towards sustainable and environmentally friendly practices, particularly in energy production and consumption. The video emphasizes the need for a green transition to combat climate change, which requires a significant increase in the production of electric vehicles, wind turbines, and batteries. This transition is heavily dependent on metals such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt, which are central to the production of these technologies.

💡Self-sufficiency

Self-sufficiency in the context of the video pertains to Europe's ability to produce the necessary metals for its green energy technologies without relying on imports. The video discusses the vulnerability that comes with Europe's near-total reliance on imported metals and the urgency to increase domestic mining of energy transition metals to achieve self-sufficiency and reduce this dependency.

💡Climate Neutrality

Climate neutrality means achieving a state where an organization, country, or business is not contributing to global warming by balancing emissions of greenhouse gases with equivalent reductions or by offsetting them. The video features a mining company's efforts to become climate neutral by 2050 through various measures, including electrifying its fleet, improving worker safety, and increasing production efficiency.

💡Energy Transition Metals

Energy transition metals are the minerals and metals that are crucial for the shift to renewable energy sources and the development of low-carbon technologies. These include lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements. The video discusses the increasing demand for these metals to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement and the importance of responsible mining to supply them.

💡Responsible Mining

Responsible mining is a concept that encompasses sustainable and socially responsible practices in the mining industry. It includes minimizing environmental impact, ensuring the health and safety of workers, and contributing positively to local communities. The video showcases a Swedish mining company's efforts to practice responsible mining by using green energy, reducing chemical use, and engaging in biodiversity projects to compensate for environmental impacts.

💡Tailing Pond

A tailing pond is a storage facility for the waste material, or tailings, that is left over after the valuable minerals have been extracted from mined rock. The video discusses the environmental challenges associated with tailings ponds, such as acid mine drainage, and how one Swedish company is addressing these issues by separating high sulfur fractions and exploring resource recovery opportunities.

💡Multi-metal Mining

Multi-metal mining is the process of extracting more than one type of metal from a single ore body. The video highlights the efficiency of a Swedish mining company that not only recovers the primary metal, nickel, but also copper, gold, platinum, and cobalt from the same operation. This approach is seen as a model for responsible mining, as it maximizes the use of resources and minimizes waste.

💡Zero Waste Approach

A zero waste approach in the context of mining refers to the goal of minimizing waste to the point of eliminating it entirely. The video discusses how a Swedish mining company is working towards this by treating tailings not as waste but as a source for new materials, and by developing processes to recover metals and produce construction materials from mining residues.

💡Biodiversity Projects

Biodiversity projects are initiatives aimed at protecting, sustaining, and enhancing biodiversity. In the video, a mining company is shown to be working on such projects to compensate for the loss of biodiversity at their mine site, with the goal of having a net positive impact on biodiversity. This is part of their broader commitment to responsible mining practices.

💡Acid Mine Drainage

Acid mine drainage is an environmental issue caused by the outflow of acidic water from mining processes, which can contaminate water sources and harm ecosystems. The video discusses how one mining company has addressed this problem by separating high sulfur fractions from tailings, thereby preventing the formation of acidic drainage and reducing the environmental footprint of their operations.

Highlights

Europeans desire Teslas but are reluctant to accept the mines necessary for metal production in their region, reflecting a perceived hypocrisy.

Contrary to common belief, Europe does possess metal resources, and there's a push for ethical mining practices.

Peter Tom Jones, a climate activist, acknowledges the need for mining to support the green transition, advocating for responsible mining methods.

The demand for lithium and other metals is predicted to skyrocket, and Europe's reliance on imports makes local mining more urgent.

Bolidan, a Swedish mining company, is recognized as a climate leader by the Financial Times, showcasing a new paradigm in mining.

Electrification of mining trucks at Boliden's mine reduces diesel consumption significantly, aligning with green energy goals.

Bolidan prioritizes worker health and safety, striving to make mining one of the safest professions.

The company uses fewer chemicals and seeks biodegradable alternatives to minimize environmental impact.

Bolidan engages in biodiversity projects to compensate for ecological disturbances caused by mining.

Innovative solutions for managing tailings, such as biolaching, aim to recover valuable metals and reduce waste.

The potential of tailings as a resource for battery materials for electric vehicles is explored.

Sweden's mining industry demonstrates how low-grade ores can be processed efficiently with minimal environmental impact.

Multi-metal mining is highlighted as a key strategy for resource efficiency and reducing reliance on imports.

The potential for Europe's own metal deposits to contribute to the continent's energy transition is discussed.

Recycling alone is insufficient; primary mining remains necessary to meet the growing demand for metals.

A near-zero waste approach in mining can lead to the development of low-carbon construction materials.

The construction industry's CO2 emissions can be reduced by using mining waste in concrete production.

European legislation and conservative standards are identified as barriers to the adoption of eco-friendly building products.

The potential for a symbiotic relationship between the mining and construction industries is proposed for mutual benefit.

Despite the need for new mines, public perception and regulatory hurdles make their establishment challenging in Europe.

Sweden's mining industry serves as a model for social responsibility and environmental stewardship.

Transcripts

Europeans want Teslas but they don't

want the mines that produce the metals

in their backyard and that's extremely

hypocritical the common perception is we

don't have any resources in Europe but

it's wrong we want to know that the

metals that go into the wind turbine

that it is produced in a good way so we

want ethical mining basically for me

responsible and ethical are quite close

I would very much support the European

self-sufficiency of metals if you don't

have Metals there's no green transition

foreign

[Music]

Jones is on his way to the North of

Sweden more specifically to one of the

largest mines in Europe Jones is the

director of the K leuven Institute for

sustainable metals and minerals in

Belgium he is also a well-known climate

activist and author of many books

foreign

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[Applause]

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in Peter Tom Jones's ideology mining was

regarded as bad for our planet but in

recent years he has gradually changed

his mind

yeah so I must admit I have changed my

mind not regards mining to make the

transition to climate neutrality we need

the massive rollout of electric vehicles

wind turbines batteries this is only

possible if you have sufficient

quantities of lithium nickel Cobalt Rare

Earth and to provide these Metals we

really need more mines but obviously we

need to do it in a more responsible way

we need responsible mining

to meet the Paris climate agreement

goals the demand for lithium in 2040

will increase 42 times compared to 2020

for Cobalt 21 times after nickel 19

Times Higher for all these energy

transition metals Europe is almost 100

reliable on imports from mines outside

Europe

this dependency makes us vulnerable

and the exploding energy and metal

prices due to the Ukraine Russian

conflict makes this transition to more

autonomy even more urgent

so we need more mining of energy

transition metals in Europe and yet

mining has such a bad reputation in

countries like China Congo many places

in Latin America mining is associated

with dire social conflicts environmental

pollution child labor so how is it

possible that the financial times

recently established this Swedish

company as a climate leader what is

going on let's try to find out today

Peter Tom Jones has a meeting with Ander

sand the r d manager of the Swedish

mining company bolidan they are visiting

the itik mine Europe's largest open pit

copper mine it soon becomes clear why

this mining company has become a climate

leader according to the financial times

okay so here you see one of our

electrified trucks and you see it by the

pantograph at the front end

is this fully electric it also has a

diesel engine so you can you can switch

between Diesel and electric but when you

go up the hill you will have a trolley

line that will it will follow along and

then it will be electrified on the way

up electric is great of course but is it

green electricity you're putting in yes

it is here in the north because here we

would have hydropower and wind power so

we have green energy in the north it is

an impressive sight when the

electrification of the whole Fleet is

completed go leaden will save up to a 30

million liters of diesel a year and this

is only one of the steps this mining

company makes to become climate neutral

by 2050.

so what makes this mine so different

from all the other mines in the rest of

the world

I think actually when you come and have

a look here you would feel that it is a

bit like any any other mind but but very

much the devil is in the details I would

say we work for instance a lot with the

health and safety of the workers

to be here is just to safest to be a

shopkeeper in Sweden or to be a taxi

driver while elsewhere is one of the

most dangerous professions

due to the very low grade that we are

mining here we have to work a lot with

the production efficiency in all part of

the production what does that mean that

you need more chemicals to recover the

metals actually here we use less

reagents than elsewhere and also we work

a lot with finding alternative reagents

with less environmental impact for

instance being biodegradable and so on

but still my mentalists will say you're

creating a huge scar in nature

what they're going to do there so we we

of course we have an impact from the

operations but we also work with the

biodiversity projects where we increase

the biodiversity elsewhere to compensate

for the loss of biodiversity here at the

mine site so actually to have a net

positive impact

foreign

is still the Achilles heel of the mining

industry this copper mine produces up to

40 million tons of tailings every year

this waste is stored in a huge tailing

Pond for decades if responsible mining

is to become the new paradigm it is

essential to tackle this problem as well

acid mine drainage is the biggest

environmental problem for all sulfidic

mining sites in the world here they have

solved the problem by separating the

high sulfur fraction from the loss of

refraction for both tailing fractions

there are finding resource recovery

opportunities and that is a huge step

towards lowering the overall

environmental footprint of this site and

that's great news

together with the European Consortium of

research institutes universities

companies and one NGO a pilot plant was

developed to tackle this waste problem

here the tailings aren't considered as

waste but as a source for new materials

what have you developed here yes here

better it's the process that we have

built for biolaching of the mining

residues for Recovery of cobalt nickel

copper and zinc say biology so how does

that work biology is the process where

we with the help of the bacteria we

provide very

I would say strong conditions in which

the oil can break can be broken down and

the metals within can be extracted and

how easy is it to upscale it to

Industrial Level I wouldn't say it's

very easy but it is doable it has been

around this technology for a while and

it would be one of the few ones that

will be used for Recovery of metals from

mining residuals so what do you do with

the solid residues after completion of

the biology process after the

bi-leaching process which are their

solid residues the goal is to produce

construction material out of them in

that case you would move towards zero

waste approach it would we would be very

close to that yes that would be great

this multi-metal zero waste approach is

the way to go and the amount of metals

in one tailing Pond is still

considerable okay what do we see here

yes what do you see what you see here

picture is the product that we have

produced from the pilot campaigns there

is copper sulfide here is zinc sulfite

and here is Cobalt and nickel sulfide

which is necessary for fabrication of

the battery material for electrical

vehicles and have you got any idea about

the overall resource potential for

Europe yes I have calculated for one of

our minds the tailings that we have in

one of our minds that it would be enough

amount of cobalt for around 2 million

Cars 2 million cars exactly wow from the

residues of one of the almonds it's

already impressive it is something

this is all live data yes so these are

continuously upgraded yep exactly this

multi-metal mining approach is something

which is in the DNA of Berlin this

Swedish mining company owned several

highly efficient mines this efficiency

is also part of our new paradigm of

responsible mining wow thank you Anders

this is really Vanguard European mining

it's impressive to see which low-grade

quality ores can be processed here and

while this is really impressive they can

treat or with a great quality of 0.2

percent 10 times lower than typical

grades elsewhere in the world and not

only is the the metal recovered but it's

also about multi-metal mining you see

for example here kevitza not only

Nicholas primary metal is record but

also copper gold platinum and Cobalt are

being recovered from this operation and

more and more these are also conflicts

Metals For example platinum and vehicle

are being produced in Russia they

control a large part of the supply chain

so it's great to see that Europe is also

capable of producing these Metals in our

own boundaries and to become less

dependent on the rest of the world more

responsible mining in Europe is this

possible the last 10 years not a single

new mine has opened in Europe

in the city of Michela in Belgium Peter

Tom Jones has a meeting with geologist

Gwen gwezaneck of brgm the French

Geological Survey

Peter Tom Jones wants to debunk the

widely held belief that Europe unlike

China and Russia has no energy

transition metals in its Bedrock the

common perception is we don't have any

resources in Europe but it's wrong it's

wrong yeah we have metals but a lot of

people don't want to know that we have

these Metals in Europe so give us a

couple of examples in terms of

geological potential Cobalt lithium Rare

Earth what do we have in Europe

um while for example for rarest element

we have a nice deposit in Northern of

Europe in Scandinavia we have also

lithium deposit in this part of Europe

but we can find lithium also in Portugal

in France

Cobalt is also quite common in different

deposits so yes we have Metals in Europe

assuming we would mine all of these

Metals how far do we get in terms of

meeting the European needs well it

depends on the metal for example for the

rarest element we could cover

at least most of the needs in Europe

with one deposit but for lithium and

Cobalt it's different we have these

metals and we can contribute to cover

the demand but we will not be able to

cover all the demand and also it will

depend on our ability to develop

technology to recover these Metals so

it's also a technological challenge

thank you Gwen you've really reassured

my my beliefs and I'm just convinced now

we really need to grasp this opportunity

thank you

environmental active actives will claim

we need to stop opening new minds

and we just need to focus on more and

better recycling but the number simply

don't add up the International Energy

agency has calculated that if we would

recycle all batteries by 2040 that that

merely would provide 10 percent of the

needs of new copper Cobalt nickel for

the batteries of 2040 so it's clear that

primary mining will be needed next to

recycling

an important argument to convince Europe

to open new minds for energy transition

metals is the near zero waste approach

the tailings of the mining industry can

serve as a cement replacement we are

witnessing one of the first tests on an

industrial scale so today is a very

special day tell us why yeah absolutely

today we're going to use these these

mining ways to stay Links at industrial

scale for the first time to make Ready

Mix Concrete which is nice and durable

and how far can you go in terms of

replacing ordinary part and cement so it

strongly depends on the the waste and

the tailing we get today it's going to

be 20 but for more reactive tailings we

can go up to 50 60 off of cement

replacement basically and in terms of

the Total Environmental footprint and

CO2 footprint reduction what does that

mean

um so considering the the CO2 footprint

of concrete you basically are related to

the the cement so if you can replace 20

of the cement natto you can also reduce

20 of the CO2 footprint of the concrete

and that you can extrapolate to the

entire cement production in Europe yeah

for the for the Ready Mix Concrete

there's really let's say millions of

Cubes meters produced every year so that

also translates into uh billions of

potential tons of CO2 that could be

reduced okay sounds great good luck with

your tests thank you

the construction industry is responsible

for about seven percent of all CO2

emissions worldwide with a new cement

this footprint can be significantly

reduced and the quality of this

eco-friendly concrete is equal or even

better

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this is what they call more a really

outdoor concrete Outdoors outdoor where

you have let's say exposure to freeze

store moist but not let's say what they

call a road based that is more more the

heart where there are the icing salts

we're not going to use it at a house to

start with you could you could you could

you could it's about the quality of a

house even there support the quality you

have different levels from zero to four

and we're at level three so the one with

highest level of concrete but still it's

not easy to bring these new eco-friendly

Building Products to the market the

building sector is pretty conservative

and then there is the European

legislation and if you can name one key

barrier which is stopping them what

would that be at the moment well apart

from some technical things but these are

usually more easily solved it's mainly

also the standards which are very

conservative and Performance Based what

do you mean what do you mean with

Performance Based well Performance Based

is that actually current standards

really focus a lot on the content of a

material so that there is a certain

amount of cement there so it's more what

the material is instead of focusing on

what it should be able to do so the

performance in view of specific

applications so it should be more

important that it can do what it should

do regardless of the origin of them so

if that would come to fruition how do

you see the the landscape developing

well I think both the mining sector and

the construction industry are sectors

that well use or produce large amounts

of materials and this can actually form

a nice symbiosis where they come

together also geographically I think in

certain locations where they can really

form close linkages that can benefit

both

it seems to look quite good it's a

beautiful piece of concrete on this

sunny day making such a nice smooth

shiny cost I'm really happy about it

perfect viscosity I saw very easy to

flow

excellent the guys don't need to work

too hard don't need to sweat too much

it's too hot to work too hard anyway so

we designed to complete for this hot

weather and it seems to work out

brilliant so technically responsible

mining in Europe is perfectly feasible

we can produce an autonomous streams of

critical metals and we can convert the

mining waste into low carbon

construction materials so why on Earth

is it so difficult to convert our

deposits into functioning open minds I

want to know what European commission

has to think about this

foreign

good afternoon

um very happy to be here Maria nieberg

is working for the European commission

more specifically in the department for

internal marketing industry she is

giving a lecture at an International

Symposium on the recycling of mining

waste we always get the impression that

European city dwellers tend to like

Tesla cars but they don't want the mines

in their backyard to produce the metals

for those cars so in a way we believe

that's very hypocritical but I think

hypocritical that is a strong word to

use I would say that it is about

simply not knowing what mining is about

having perhaps not never having seen a

modern mine of today

mining is unknown and therefore unloved

nieberg makes the comparison with a meat

industry when you buy your meat I want

to know that what I buy is produced in a

okay way ethical way in an ethical way

this also stretches into other areas of

our way of life and the way we consume

we want to know that the metals that go

into the wind turbine that is placed in

in my region that it is produced in a

good way so we want ethical mining

basically not responsible mining we need

ethical mining

uh yes well for me responsible and

ethical are quite close it's a bit of a

surprise but it turns out that the

European commission's position is not so

far from Peter Tom Jones's view after

all from our political leaders they have

a spoken to to the public in the recent

months saying that is it really uh

morally responsible

to say that we don't want the minds here

but it is okay to Source it from the

outside finally I would like to ask you

to make one prediction for the next 10

years how many new energy transition

metal mines do you think will start up

in Europe the aim of the raw materials

policy it is not about maximizing the

number of Minds it is to make sure that

the condition conditions are such that

the the mining industry which is going

to to through the transition itself

is sustainable and competitive because

any industry needs to be

financially viable at the end of the day

so we can be

as sustainable as we want if we don't

have a business that works the time is

now the International Energy agency

recently pointed out that in order to

meet the 2030 climate goals we need 50

new lithium mines 16 new nickel mines

and 17 new cobalt mines worldwide

but still opening new mind seems to be

so difficult especially in Europe nobody

wants a mine in his or her backyard

maybe we can learn something from Sweden

of Finland yet here in your backyard in

North Scandinavia we have this mine and

people seem to be in favor why is that

I think actually it is because we are

not really a fly-in fly out operation we

have a very deep commitment in the

society where we're acting we're hiring

local people we work with gender and

ethnic balance so I may ask you about

your current gender balance so here at

this site it is actually not far from 50

50. and if you take the truck drivers

for instance then more than 50 percent

are female okay so you are generally

responsible and socially responsible

what about your environmental

responsibility because I still see this

500 meter deep pits in the ground really

give that Back To Nature so at the end

of life of the mine this hole would

actually fill up with water and become

the deepest lake in Sweden you could go

fishing or swimming here in the future

the problem is I can't swim

I will teach you okay thank you

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