The International Copper Alliance estimates that, today, nearly 28 million tonnes of copper are used annually, with most applications taking advantage of copper’s superior electrical and thermal conductivity properties. Copper's unique properties make it a crucial material for urban and industrial growth, as society addresses the challenges of climate change, energy efficiency and raising living standards for the world's growing population. Most crucially, copper plays a key role in the transition to a decarbonised economy and in improving living standards for the world’s population.
Our efforts to build a sustainable business for the future are guided by our purpose of re-imagining mining to improve people’s lives, responding to the many demands facing society today and putting our stakeholders firmly at the centre of our strategy.
Forging wide-ranging collaborations with our key customers to help drive greater transparency and traceability of the product’s journey from mine to market is a key part of this approach. For example, our collaboration agreement with South Korea’s LS MnM, a leader in the global copper and precious metals smelting industry, lays the foundation for working together on the creation of a sustainable solutions offering – one that responds to society’s growing demand for copper with demonstrably strong provenance credentials.
Our joint efforts will focus on three main workstreams – sustainability, technology initiatives, and commercial development, looking at all facets of the copper production process with an emphasis on driving understanding and appreciation of the indicators underpinning sustainability performance.
Paul Ward, Executive Head of Marketing for Base Metals, said: “We continue to advance our efforts to ensure that our products are brought to customers around the world as part of an ethical value chain, providing greater assurance across the entire copper supply process, spanning production, processing to delivery.
“We are forging long-term collaborations with customers across key geographies, building on well-established commercial relationships to help extend the impact of our commitment to responsible business practices beyond our own mining operations. Our efforts are aimed at increasing visibility of the provenance of the materials used in some of the key technologies propelling modern life and sustainable socio-economic development.”
Tae Sun Choi, Head of LS MnM's Corporate Strategy and Business Development Division, said, "We are delighted to start a meaningful effort together with Anglo American, who has built trust and partnership with us for a long time. We expect to contribute to a sustainable copper value chain."
Anglo American has previously announced collaborations with copper producers such as Germany’s Aurubis and China’s Jiangxi Copper, as part of a wider effort aimed at forging new pathways toward the creation of an ethical value chain, supporting innovation and delivery of step change results across the entire mining value chain.