IT fell to the world’s mining industry to become relevant to society in order to remain sustainable, said BusinessLive citing the comments of Mark Cutifani, CEO of Anglo American.
In an address to the South African mining community ahead of the Joburg Indaba conference, Cutifani said he hoped the mining sector would be completely transformed in the next 40 years such that it was a trusted economic partner.
He said that: “… due to the experience of local communities that are negatively affected by mining operations, and the legacy of irresponsible operators, there is still a perception that the industry is self-serving and cannot be trusted”.
“The sand is shifting beneath our feet: if we cannot make a demonstrable positive contribution to society and do so without it being seen and understood, our businesses will not be sustainable,” he said.
“I hope that mining will be unrecognisable 40 years from now, that it will be a trusted partner in economic development, and a global leader in technical sophistication, its approach to environmental sustainability, and in its relationships with host governments, communities and broader society,” said Cutifani.
Anglo was focusing on improving its interaction with the environment with new technology to reduce water and electricity consumption, as well as making its operational footprint smaller, improve the lives of communities about its mines and reaching for higher standards of corporate governance and transparency, said BusinessLive.
