Abstract:

Globally, the mining industry is stepping up to the challenge of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Companies are embracing Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) and integrating it into their corporate strategies. Companies within the mining industry are establishing targets to be carbon neutral by 2050. Setting the target is the starting point however there will be much work required to meet that target. Inherent in the many changes that will be required to meet this target is risk. As companies start this journey there will be a focus on transitioning their energy supply which will bring one set of risks. Companies will also have to change their operating processes to reduce emissions which has a different set of risks. The need to accelerate new technologies brings with it safety risk, operational risk and business risk. This talk will focus on managing risk during the rapid introduction of new technology. As an example one of the key materials that will play a role in this transition is hydrogen. We hear about it every day in the business news. However hydrogen brings with it a number of risks. As an example hydrogen has a broad flammability range and very low ignition energy. In addition hydrogen flames are not visible to the naked eye so they are difficult to detect. Without the proper risk management processes the introduction of hydrogen has the potential to lead major process incidents.

The rapid introduction of new technology has been done before. In the 1980’s the world realized that climate change was a real threat. This was brought to light by scientific evidence that chlorinated fluorocarbons (CFC’s) and other chemicals were creating a hole in the ozone layer. CFC’s were widely used as refrigerants and solvents and replacements had to be developed for critical applications. In this presentation we will highlight several learnings from the rapid introduction of new technology to replace CFC’s. In addition we will provide examples of steps that mining companies are taking to manage risk as they deal with major technical changes.

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Russell Cotton