The global mining sector is experiencing a profound transformation driven by the increasing demand for critical minerals essential to the energy and digital transitions, alongside mounting pressures from investors, consumers, and civil society for more sustainable and equitable mining practices. Accompanying and supporting this transformation, new technologies are being rapidly integrated into large-scale mining operations, significantly impacting labour markets, supply chains, and host communities.
This report provides an analysis of technology adoption and their associated impacts, drawing on case studies from six large-scale mining operations in six different countries: Australia, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Guinea, and South Africa.
Building on the findings of the 2018 IGF research project New Tech New Deal, which explored the potential impacts of emerging technologies on the sector, this report takes a step further by empirically analyzing the real impacts of these technologies across the mining value chain.
