Copper mines like Rio Tinto’s Bingham Canyon mine on the outskirts of Salt Lake Metropolis are on the frontline of America’s transition to clean energy.
International demand for copper, a serious part of electric vehicles, is predicted to develop from 25 million metric tons to almost 49 million metric tons by 2035, in keeping with S&P International.
However miners face a large number of points as they ramp up manufacturing, together with addressing the considerations of native stakeholders, mitigating environmental harm and working in distant areas of the world.
“There’s going to be a real problem with this transition over the next ten years,” stated Tyler Broda, metals and mining analyst for RBC Capital Markets. “It is very, very hard for these companies to even maintain the level of production that they have at the moment.”
Collectively based mostly in Australia and the UK, Rio Tinto is without doubt one of the world’s largest mining firms with initiatives in 35 nations. It has 17 iron ore mines in Western Australia that produce materials utilized in metal, in addition to mines that produce aluminum, diamonds, and boron, a part utilized in smartphones.
So what’s Rio Tinto doing to ramp up manufacturing of its critical minerals enterprise? CNBC acquired a behind the scenes take a look at Rio Tinto’s Utah operation to seek out out.
