Long before drones, automated drills, and artificial intelligence, humans were miners in their own right.
In the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, humans chipped away at the earth in search of different minerals and materials such as copper, flint and ochre.
These raw materials were essential for survival, fashioned into tools, weapons and even pigments for their earliest cave art. It was mining, but not as the world knows it today.
Fast forward thousands of years, the face of mining has transformed beyond recognition. What began as primitive excavation has evolved into a global industry driven by insatiable demand for energy, infrastructure, and the resources powering the green revolution.
But with this evolution comes an intense reckoning that is always questioned: How can an industry built on extraction help preserve the very planet it draws from?
That specific question lies at the heart of this year’s Earth Day, celebrated annually on 22 April.
From extraction to energy transition
Earth Day, founded in 1970, has grown into a worldwide movement focused on protecting the planet through education, advocacy and climate change.
In 2025, its theme — Our Power, Our Planet — represents a unity behind renewable energy and tripling the global generation of clean electricity by 2030.
Because behind every solar panel, wind turbine and electric vehicle lies a web of minerals essential to their production.
Speaking to Mining.com.au, Solis Minerals (ASX:SLM) Chief Executive Mitch Thomas says this year’s Earth Day theme aligns closely with the company’s objective to responsibly explore and develop projects.
“Our focus on copper directly supports the shift towards renewable energy and electrification, reducing reliance on fossil fuels,” Thomas says.
According to global asset management firm Sprott, copper plays a pivotal role in the shift toward clean, carbon-free energy. For example, power grids and electrical vehicles (EVs) rely heavily on copper for efficient electricity transmission.
Solis Minerals is actively exploring for critical minerals, particularly copper, in the Coastal Belt of Peru. South America is a key player in the global export of critical minerals — which are vital for modern technologies, economies, and national security.
Thomas says Solis actively contributes to the global energy transition by advancing copper projects that will supply materials for battery storage and electrification.
“A typical EV used 80-100kgs of copper which is four to five times an internal combustion engine car,” he tells this news service.
“We are big believers that copper is essential to our energy transition.”
Sprott reports global investment in the energy transition has surged over time, reaching up to $1.8 trillion in 2023. This figure far exceeds investments made in the fossil fuel field, which totalled $1.1 trillion in investment during 2023, as reported by the International Energy Agency.
In conjunction with copper, other minerals like bauxite also play a critical role in the global energy transition and support broader environmental goals.
Bauxite is an industrially important aluminium metal supply and non-metallurgical use. Bauxite represents the only material used in producing alumina on a commercial scale. Meanwhile, gallium is a common by-product of aluminium extracted from bauxite and may also be considered a possible future resource for rare earths.
Mark Imber, Head of Environment and Community of Metro Mining (ASX:MMI), says the company mines bauxite to produce aluminium, which is an essential material in producing lightweight, energy-efficient vehicles, renewable energy infrastructure, and sustainable construction projects.
“The lightweight nature of aluminium helps reduce energy consumption in industries such as transportation, where fuel efficiency is paramount,” Imber tells this news service.
“Additionally, aluminium is highly recyclable, with recycling processes using only a fraction of the energy required to create new aluminium from bauxite.
“As the world shifts toward cleaner energy sources and sustainable practices, aluminium’s role in reducing carbon footprints, improving energy efficiency, and supporting green technologies makes bauxite mining a key player in the global environmental movement.”
A new era of responsibility
Similarly to copper and bauxite, high-purity alumina (HPA) is a versatile material that is widely used in the technology and automotive industries. HPA is used in LEDs, lithium battery separators, catalysts and synthetic semiconductors.
Although HPA is made through an energy-intensive process, Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) Managing Director Mike Jones says the company aims to revolutionise HPA production with cost-efficient mining and implementing a low carbon footprint.
“The way that HPA is made now comes through an energy-intensive, environmentally unfriendly process which is through the manufacture of aluminium metal,” Jones tells this news service.
“So that’s mined as bauxite and then we go through the Bayer process — it produces a billion tonnes of red mud which is energy intensive and then they reprocess that with the aluminium to produce that.
“What we’re doing is our footprint to get to HPA is a lot less than any of the existing methods.”
Impact Minerals’ Lake Hope Project encompasses several salt lakes stretching from Hyden to Norseman in southern Western Australia.
“Our plan is to do nothing but basically dig it up and transport it off-site,” he adds.
“So, as a result, on-site there is no requirement for power. We can do it just by solar and there is no requirement for permanent water supply and we’re going to mine for a few months of the year.
“We’re only going to leave behind a hole that is literally one or two metres deep and that will naturally fill in with very little environmental damage at all.”
Earth Day’s call for climate action aligns with the mining industry’s shift toward greener practices. From reducing emissions to supporting circular economies, mining companies are embracing sustainability — not just as a duty, but as a strategic priority.
Speaking to Mining.com.au, Hayley Zipp, International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) Environment Director, says meeting the demand for critical minerals, which are required for the green energy transition, “must not be at the expense of the planet”.
Green technology itself is built on metals like copper, lithium, nickel, and rare earths, to name a few.
Solar panels, for example, rely on the supply of aluminium, copper, indium and cadmium to produce photovoltaic panels. Similarly, wind turbines are made from steel — meaning it’s dependent on the production of iron, as well as certain rare earths for magnets used inside turbine generators.
However, the way these resources are extracted is just as important as their end use.
Zipp says climate change is an urgent challenge that is affecting the global economy, nature, biodiversity and local communities.
“The link between climate change and nature is more obvious than ever,” she says.
“Recognising the strong link between climate and nature, ICMM is taking an integrated approach to accelerating decarbonisation of the mining and metals industry and its value chains, whilst protecting the environment.”
Mining meets accountability
In 2021, ICMM members, representing one third of the global industry, committed to reach net-zero scope one and two greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner. In 2024, its members also committed to support a nature positive future.
ICMM published a ‘Good Practice Guide for Achieving No Net Loss or Net Gain of Biodiversity’ in March 2025, to help mining and metals companies achieve and maintain no net loss of biodiversity at their operations, and ultimately strive for net gain of biodiversity, as they work towards a nature-positive future.
“By prioritising nature conservation and restoration while setting ambitious decarbonisation targets, the industry can support the energy transition while preserving ecosystems,” Zipp says.
Metro Mining for instance established its ESG committee in 2022 and now follows a roadmap for 2025-26, to drive positive environmental and social impacts while also enhancing governance practices.
Due to the Bauxite Hills operations’ remote location, Metro cannot access sustainable energy from the grid. As such, the company has procured new more efficient generators to replace the aging equipment onsite.
“We continue to explore alternative energy solutions and storage technologies to reduce GHG emissions per tonne of bauxite shipped,” Metro says.
Meanwhile, Impact Minerals conducted a CO2 emissions study last year, which revealed the company has equal or less than the lowest carbon footprint of any other HPA producer.
Jones says this includes the “leader in the field now for HPA — Alpha HPA (ASX:A4N).”
The preliminary study completed in Q2 2024 shows that scope one and scope two CO2 emissions would likely be “significantly lower” than incumbent processes that produce HPA, and on par with or even much lower than emerging processes.
For Impact to achieve its net zero carbon goal, it needs to eliminate or offset the emissions from power generation as well as from mining, transport, and calcining.
Calcining, heating in a furnace, is the final stage of the HPA process.
The majority of emissions can be slashed by using 100% renewable energy.
Across the globe, more mining operations are moving to renewable power, with countries such as Chile, Mauritius and South Africa leading the way with about one gigawatt of renewables already being operational at mining sites and a further one gigawatt in development.
Companies such as Anglo American (LSE:AAL) source 100% renewable energy for its operations in Brazil, Chile and Peru, while Chilean miner Codelco expects to have a fully decarbonised power supply in South America by 2030 — reducing its total scope one and two emissions by 70%.
Scope one refers to emissions from sources that an organisation owns and controls directly, such as burning fuel in a fleet of vehicles. Scope two are emissions that a company causes indirectly and come from where the energy it purchases and uses is produced. For example, the emissions caused when generating electricity used in buildings.
Mining companies are transitioning to renewable energy, implementing diesel displacement strategies and collaborating across supply chains.
A report by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency revealed that the nation’s mining sector uses 10% of Australia’s energy use and consumes 5 billion litres of diesel each year.
For reference, 5 billion litres would fill about 2,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools, which normally holds around 2.5 million litres of water, as reported by the Patagonia Area Resource Alliance.
According to Mine NRI Digital, displacing diesel from a mining fleet can remove up to 40% of a mine site’s emissions.
In 2023, mining giant BHP (ASX:BHP) began trialing the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) to help power mining equipment at its Yandi Iron Ore Operations in Western Australia. The renewable diesel made from HVO was used in haul trucks and other mining equipment over a three-month trial period.
As the global economy accelerates towards decarbonisation, the mining sector’s role is under scrutiny — but also full of opportunity.
It’s an industry born of extraction, now reshaping itself around restoration.
From copper to bauxite, from solar-powered operations to nature-positive pledges, today’s mining companies are redefining what it means to operate responsibly.
And in that transformation lies the answer to a once-paradoxical question: yes, an industry built on extraction can help be a steward for environmental preservation — by mining not just for profit, but for purpose.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Impact Minerals, Solis Minerals, Metro Mining & ICMM
