By Yusuf Khan


Increased engagement with local communities and adopting more sustainable practices will be key in enabling the transition to a low-carbon economy, as without it new mining projects to secure transition materials won't be possible, according to BHP Group Ltd's Chief Executive Mike Henry.

BHP is expecting that twice as much primary copper, four times as much nickel and twice the amount of steel is going to be needed to meet demand over the next 30 years compared with what is currently produced, Mr. Henry said on Wednesday, speaking as part of a panel hosted by the Church of England in London focusing on mining standards.

"Wind turbines, solar farms, electric vehicles, the broader electrification of the world - these are incredibly metal types of activities," Mr. Henry said.

However, to secure these materials community engagement and safer mining practices would be key.

"The critical minerals to meet this demand are going to come from deposits that are lower average grade than in the past," he said. "It is going to need to be met from lower grade deposits, meaning even more mining activity, so our priority must be to make mining safer and more sustainable."

"Poor practices and poor public acceptance will result in a lack of access to resources, slow development of new lines that will result in insufficient supply to enable the energy transition, the consequences of which will be dire," Mr. Henry added.

The mining chief said that it is aiming to set higher standards which will be adopted across various jurisdictions and had developed a six step framework which included requirements on decarbonization, a healthy environment, indigenous partnerships, automation and responsible supply chains.

Mr. Henry said that BHP will be releasing yearly reports as to how it is doing in terms of meeting the goals it has set in those departments.

During the panel discussion, Mr. Henry was also quizzed on the response to certain disasters including the damages caused by the failure in 2015 of the Fundao Dam, jointly owned by BHP and Brazilian iron ore mining giant Vale.

Mr. Henry said that the seven years it has now taken to help re-establish local people's lives after the collapse--which killed 19 people--was too long, adding that the progress has not been as quick as the company would like.

However, Mr. Henry said that shortly after the disaster BHP made a public commitment to stay for as long as it was needed and to pay to fully remediate the situation and pay due compensation.

He added that progress has been made recalling that 400,000 people have received financial assistance from BHP's indemnification programme and that it was making greater progress in more recent times on the housing and resettlement, although noting that "none of it is gone as fast as any of us would like it to go."

Angelica Amanada Andrada, whose sister was killed in the disaster said that "a lot of people in Brazil agree that what has been done has been insufficient and unfair to the people," and urged Mr. Henry to visit the affected community, to which he said he had done so.


Write to Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-25-23 1036ET