Opportunities and Challenges for "Green Copper" Mining

What is “green copper"?

The world is undergoing an energy transition that will require mining, but not at any cost. Sustainability has become a core discussion for the copper industry, with the difficult-to-define concept of “green copper” being used more and more often.

“I don't think there is a clear definition; I think there are as many definitions as you have companies and organizations,” Michael Hellemann Soerensen of Aurubis said during a panel at this year’s Fastmarkets copper conference.

“For us at Aurubis, that contains four different elements: carbon, environmental impact (and) recycling part of the products we make; and then there's social responsibility, including business partner screening, human rights, etc.”

Aurubis is Europe's biggest copper smelter. The company recently started a series of tests using ammonia to reduce carbon emissions in copper rod production. Its goal is for its production to become climate-neutral production well before 2050.

Also speaking at the panel, Uwe Schmidt of Montanwerke Brixlegg agreed that there are many definitions of “green copper.”

“I think that ultimately, if you talk about green copper as a producer, it's just important to be transparent with what you mean,” he said. “Like in many other industries, we are doing this in reverse, but it's sometimes very difficult to grasp. So it often becomes too broad as well, too many components.”

Aside from transparency, companies claiming to produce green copper will need to share their metrics for measuring progress.

“I think it's worth noting how far we've come,” said Georgina Hallett, chief sustainability officer at the London Metal Exchange. “I think now we are committed to understand that even if it's environmentally friendly at the cost of other ESG metrics, that's not okay either. So it's got to be a balance while not getting too broad.”

Will customers pay a premium for green copper?

As the push for more environmentally friendly copper production heats up, the discussion around whether customers should be paying a premium for greener products is also gathering momentum.

Earlier this year, Austria’s privately held Montanwerke Brixlegg launched its low-carbon copper, which is made using recycled metal and with hydropower for energy. In September, the company said that it would be offering copper with a 295 euro per MT premium for its low-carbon footprint starting next year. That’s in addition to a floating surcharge for high energy costs.

"If the market offers low-carbon copper, it must have a higher value," Schmidt said.

Last year, Sweden’s Boliden launched two green copper products, one sourced from recycled electronic scrap, and the other from reduced-emissions mining. At the time, the company said it was only getting a small premium for these products.

Speculating on what could happen in the future, Andersson said that perhaps “if low-carbon metals become the industry norm, penalties could be imposed for companies who fail to meet similar green standards.”