Daniel Franks

Professor at University of Queensland’s @SMI_UQ | work on the minerals & materials that matter for the #SDGs | Ex-UNDP | Author 'Mountain Movers' | views my own

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

Why are minerals, one of the classic elements of nature so key to human existence, missing from the SDGs? Today Julia Keenan, Degol Hailu and I publish an article in @naturesustainab (free access: https://t.co/zNF2kIZlKj) that attempts to answer this question.

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

@SMI_UQ Just the metal?

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

@prpheller @The_SARWatch @SthrnAfrcaTrust @OlangSilas1 Is there a recording? Would love to watch.

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

@fasc1nate Twitter

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

@mcberkman Michael, I believe that this is actually a poor sustainability outcome. Aggregate will now be trucked from >80km away adding to the emissions intensity of buildings and roads in Brisbane.

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

@ParbhakarFox That's appalling Anita. I look like a boy and don't even get introduced that way...

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

@fleishmanEU @RPerincek @gavan_walsh Take care though because this would go counter to Africa's genuine ambition, that we should support for greater levels of mineral processing and green industrialisation.

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

@StephenLezak It's easy to say artisanal miners who mine to keep poverty at bay deserve a just transition under a gold phase out, but the reality is that one would be very unlikely. Poverty is a lack of other options. A 'phase out' would likely be militarised, and characterised by misery.

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

@jumpstart_2U @ProfJoelPearson @ahandvanish Do tell....

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

@SamSamDorf @ProfJoelPearson That's interesting. I have Aphantasia and my only uncle has a photographic memory. Wonder if there is a link.

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

@ProfJoelPearson Spatial awareness and childhood learning methods. Got to admit that the combination of being excellent with maps and lousy with spelling is a weird one.

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

'Development Minerals' feature in Jamaica's new 5-year development plan. https://t.co/sTwiuxAwcD

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

Mate, you do know you can charge a battery more than once...

[John Lee Pettimore @JohnLeePettim13]

Wrap your head around this: Storing the energy equivalent of one barrel of oil, which weighs 300 pounds and costs $81.00 requires 20,000 pounds of EV batteries that cost $200,000. Now imagine how much mining we have to do in order make 20,000 pounds of battery. #GreenEnergy

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

Another dodgy take. All these metals were mined before green energy and continue to be mined for other things, and they nowhere near add up to 98% of mined metals #factcheck

[John Lee Pettimore @JohnLeePettim13]

Some people seem to think it's just rare earth minerals that are needed to make #GreenEnery You also need copper, iron, aluminium, zinc, lead and nickel, and together that accounts for 98% of all mined metals.

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

Yeah, nah. This is a dodgy take. Most cobalt is produced as a by-product of copper mining & cobalt is the only one of the metals you have listed that has any significant artisanal mining as part of the supply chain. #factcheck

[John Lee Pettimore @JohnLeePettim13]

It takes 112 children working a 12 hour day to make enough cobalt for one EV battery. #GreenEnergy

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

@cassiajohnson Could it because it chooses sensationalism over understanding?

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

@cjmsci What is new is that with processing we can now find a market for the bulk of the waste as a construction material in many cases. That is a much different proposition than metal by-products.

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

Metals mined for renewable energy will dramatically increase mining wastes. Miners could reduce this waste. If they really wanted to. 🧵

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

@cjmsci I actually don't think better waste management necessarily means a bigger cost, especially if we are to account for all costs. By-products for example generate revenue, save storage and management (sometimes allowing > production) and reduce environmental and safety liabilities.

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

@cjmsci It would be highly dependent on markets and proximity to market as potentially the majority of waste could be a by-product if we are to include construction materials. Colleagues have done analysis like this for specific sites e.g Mt Isa.

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

@MorrillJB @UNEPIRP @GlobalDevUQ @sally_innis @fittwittar @actmatthews @anna_littleboy @LNiGhallachoir @jdgeipel @helenmariareid @Patrick45228997 @KamilaSvobodov7

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

Most of mining's waste (>90%) is actually benign crushed rock, the problem is that after processing toxic metals and acids are left mixed in with the benign waste. It could be separated and used as a construction material when markets are nearby, but only a few companies do this.

[Daniel Franks @_DanielFranks]

@JohnLeePettim13 I've worked nearly 30 years on mining & sustainability. Yes, metal demand for renewables will present huge challenges. But what this thread is not telling you is that there are many solutions to reduce mining waste, what's lacking is any real interest in implementing them.