SANTIAGO - The world's governments must do more to convince local communities and Indigenous groups to support mines that produce critical minerals needed to power the energy transition and fight climate change, the head of a prominent industry group said.
"Now that we have governments more actively engaged in increasing the supply of critical minerals ... that comes with a responsibility to help broker an effective and trusted relationship between the industry and impacted communities," said Dhawan, who joined ICMM in 2021 after a career in consulting.
The mining industry, though, should not necessarily build a mine if it receives government approval but not local support, he added."Everybody benefits when we transition to a low carbon economy, but the impacts are always local."The tension between the rising need for copper and entrenched opposition was a central theme this week at the Santiago conference, which organizers said was attended by more than 500 people.