More than 4 trillion $ is needed

One day ahead of the WMC 2023, the 104th International Organizing Committee meeting took place. The meeting was held in Brisbane in a hybrid form. The 104th IOC meeting was attended by 40 participants in person and joined by 20 via webinar from 22 countries. The host of the meeting was the Australian National Committee with its representatives Hua Guo, prof. Jian Zhao, Fidelis Suorineni, as well as high-level representatives of the Australian government and academia: Ian Dover (Stream), Daniel Zavattiero – General Manager (Energy Minerals Council of Australia), Ian Neill (AUSTRALIAN COAL RESEARCH LIMITED), Warwick Agnew – Director General (Department of Resources (Queensland)). Marek Cała chaired the meeting.

4 trillion $ is needed

During the meeting, the Queensland mineral resources, their extraction, and utilization of the State’s renewable energy policy and facilities were discussed. Moreover, Mr. Warwick Agnew included critical data on the renewable sector. The second speaker was Mr. Daniel Zavattiero. He presented data on existing mining plants all over the country and principal minerals, which are being exploited in Australia including export revenue and commodity data. He showed the forecast of world mineral consumption growth to 2040.

He highlighted, that more than $4 trillion of investment in mining projects is needed to supply the resources needed for the energy transition. He also drew attention to the benefits of a highly skilled workforce and advanced technology which Australia is possessing. He also covered the subject of „opportunities for the Australian mining industry“. Considering the above issues he also mentioned a new critical minerals strategy of Australia, which is on the table now. He mentioned a Climate action plan in which one of the points is that in October 2021 the MCA announced an industry ambition to achieve the next zero by 2050.

Ian Neill from AUSTRALIAN COAL RESEARCH LIMITED gave a presentation on Australian Coal Mining Industry. He presented the key metrics and future trends.

Ian Dover presented the current status and projects. He discussed opportunities for Australia’s Critical minerals and described the MiWaTCH project.

Next meetings

One of the key decisions of the IOC 104th IOC meeting was the selection of Chile as the host of next – the 105th meeting.  The 105th IOC/WMC meeting will be organized  on April 15th, 2024 (Monday) in Santiago de Chile

Moreover, Peru was appointed as the host of the 27th WMC in 2026. Furthermore, in 2025 the 106th IOC meeting will be organized in Indonesia.