2024 in data: the trends that shaped the mining sector

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As 2024 draws to a close, we look back at some of the biggest trends that impacted the mining sector over the past 12 months.

The world’s biggest mining companies have set their sights on ambitious net-zero targets by 2050. In Rio Tinto’s 2023 climate change report, the company noted that it may not reach its planned 2025 target of a 15% decrease in scope 1 and scope 2 emissions from 2018 levels. 

Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm noted that: “It takes time to deliver such complex and large-scale structural changes to our energy system, so the actual emissions reductions will lag this [target].” 

BHP also set ambitious targets for its emissions reductions across all scopes, with a target of a 30% decrease in scope 1 and 2 emissions from 2020 levels by 2030, and a goal of net-zero operational emissions by 2050. At a national level, Australian mining companies continued to try to cut emissions. 

Most miners have stipulated 2050 as the target year for achieving net-zero carbon emissions, according to Martina Raveni, a strategic analyst at GlobalData, MINE’s parent company. 

Shorter-term emission reduction goals “typically aim for around a 30% reduction by 2030”, she added, although some have more aggressive ambitions. “Mining is a difficult sector to decarbonise,” she said. “That said, shifting power sources is the main game in town for the mining industry.”

Mining companies continued to invest in AI to enhance productivity, safety, cost-efficiency and mineral discovery. AI enables mining companies to deploy autonomous machinery and use data analytics to enhance operational efficiency and productivity.   

Rio Tinto partnered with space exploration company Fleet Space Technologies to map Argentina’s Rincon lithium project in 3D using AI, and the mining giant has already integrated the technology across its operations. 

Dan Evans, Rio Tinto’s CIO, explained to MINE that AI offers advantages such as helping to optimise the entire mining process by considering the constraints and bottlenecks throughout the value chain.

The robotics industry became an increasingly important element of the global mining sector in 2024, and will be worth $218bn by 2030, offering productivity and a solution to the talent shortage facing the mining sector. 

Service robots will be the “growth engine” of the robotics sector, revealed GlobalData’s Robotics in Mining report, which noted that: “With the mining industry under pressure to cut costs and enhance efficiency and safety, automation is a potential solution.” 

Automation also began to offer the mining sector increased productivity as robotics helped to streamline hauling, drilling, blasting and exploration processes.

According to GlobalData’s report, Innovation in Mining: Lithium Recovery, the process of lithium recovery is a key area for innovation in global mining. As environmental regulations became more stringent, so the need to develop new technologies to recover metals and minerals – and manage process waste – increased throughout 2024. 

Nemaska Lithium, ENEOS and Metso were some of the leading patent filers in lithium recovery in 2024. 

According to GlobalData’s commodity production forecasts, lithium production is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 14% between 2024 and 2030, reaching almost 500 kilotonnes (kt) by the end of the decade. However, the global supply of lithium needed for energy transition technologies must reach 530kt under a revised scenario from the International Energy Agency, released in 2024. 

The International Lithium Association revealed even higher estimates this year, predicting that a massive 4,000kt of lithium will be needed in 2035.

The price rose steadily throughout 2024, from $2,040/oz in early January to $2,700/oz in mid-December, mainly as a hedge against interest rates and continuing geopolitical uncertainty. 

This in turn prompted an increase in global mining activity throughout the year, with gold production estimated at 131.4 million ounces in 2024, with the global gold mining market expected to see gradual growth at a CAGR of around 1% by 2030.

China assumed an increasingly dominant position in critical mineral supply chains over the course of the year, and its need for a variety of critical minerals continued to grow. 

The Asian powerhouse's increasing influence (and in some cases control) over production in regions such as Africa raised concerns around diminishing access for Western nations and mining companies. 

According to data from the International Energy Agency, China accounted for approximately 80% of natural graphite and 60% of mined magnet rare earths in 2024.