Industry Agenda Scoping Paper: Mining and Metals in a Sustainable World

The document envisions a future where the mining and metals sector operates within a circular economy, utilizing advanced automation and 3D printing to reduce environmental impacts. It argues that the industry must shift from being simple commodity providers to stakeholders committed to shared value, adapting to a world with higher environmental standards, diverse ownership models, and the commercialization of deep-sea and asteroid mining. The paper identifies seven primary drivers of change—including increased democratization and environmental concern—and suggests that companies invest in R&D and multistakeholder partnerships to remain viable.

• The transition to a circular economy will shift the sector from linear models to circular ones where products are repaired, reused, returned, and recycled, potentially resulting in net material cost savings of up to US$ 630 billion annually for a subset of the European Union’s manufacturing sector through 2025.
• Technological advancements, specifically 3D printing, are expected to significantly increase operational efficiency by allowing spare parts to be manufactured on-site, which has reduced costs for terrestrial mines by 50-80% compared to standard manufacturing methods.
• The sector is expanding into 'new frontiers,' with deep-sea mining becoming viable since 2015 and asteroid mining emerging as a reality for platinum group metals, nickel, and iron, though high launch costs (between US$ 10,000/kg and US$ 40,000/kg) currently limit its competitiveness against earth-based sources.
• Future ownership models will likely move away from simple mineral-rights ownership toward a 'shared value' approach, incorporating elements such as leasing minerals, service contract mining, and the equitable distribution of profits among governments, communities, and investors.
• The industry faces seven primary drivers of change: higher demands for fairness, increased democratization, growing concern for the environment, abrupt generational change, intensified rate of technological change, geographical shift, and rising concerns related to artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM).
• Environmental conditions in a sustainable world will necessitate more resilient infrastructure to withstand extreme weather and stricter standards for water and emissions, with high-biodiversity areas becoming strictly off-limits to new operations.

APA

World Economic Forum (2014). Industry Agenda Scoping Paper: Mining and Metals in a Sustainable World. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_MM_MiningMetalSustainableWorld_ScopingPaper_2014.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Industry Agenda Scoping Paper: Mining and Metals in a Sustainable World. 2014. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_MM_MiningMetalSustainableWorld_ScopingPaper_2014.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Industry Agenda Scoping Paper: Mining and Metals in a Sustainable World |date=February 2014 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_MM_MiningMetalSustainableWorld_ScopingPaper_2014.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2014industry, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Industry Agenda Scoping Paper: Mining and Metals in a Sustainable World}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2014}, month = feb, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_MM_MiningMetalSustainableWorld_ScopingPaper_2014.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }