A low-carbon sunrise for the mining industry

This research paper by WWF South Africa argues that the global transition to a low-carbon economy, driven by the Paris Agreement, creates significant opportunities for South Africa's mining sector. The document details the high material intensity of clean energy technologies—such as solar, wind, and geothermal—and positions South Africa's vast mineral reserves as a strategic advantage for revitalising its extractive industries and re-industrialising its economy through the manufacturing of low-carbon technologies.

• Low-carbon electricity generation technologies are more material-intensive than traditional fossil fuel-based systems, requiring significant amounts of conventional metals like steel and aluminium, as well as rare earth elements (REEs).
• Specific low-carbon technologies have distinct mineral requirements: a 3 MW industrial wind turbine uses 335 tonnes of steel, 4.7 tonnes of copper, and 500kg of REEs, while crystalline-silicon solar technologies require 6.6 t/MW of silicon and 0.08 t/MW of silver.
• The transition to a carbon-constrained future will drive steep growth in metal demand. For example, an IEA scenario suggests that wind and solar generation growth could require 3,200 million tonnes of steel, 310 million tonnes of aluminium, and 40 million tonnes of copper over 40 years.
• South Africa possesses a strategic mineral advantage, accounting for 80% of identified manganese resources and over 40% of global production of platinum group metals (PGMs), vanadium, and ferrochromium.
• The low-carbon transition offers South Africa several economic opportunities: creating new markets (particularly with China), benefiting from anticipated increases in commodity prices, and incentivising the modernisation of aging mines.
• South Africa can leverage its mineral base to develop a domestic low-carbon technology manufacturing base, which would allow the country to move from exporting primary metals to high value-added manufactured products.
• While recycling is essential for a green economy and can be more cost-effective than mining, it is unlikely to meet the total scale of demand for metals in the near-term.
• Electric vehicles significantly increase the demand for specific metals compared to conventional cars; for instance, a fully electric car requires 80kg of copper, which is four times the 20kg used in an average gasoline-powered car.

APA

Gulati, M., & Naudé, L. (2018). A low-carbon sunrise for the mining industry. WWF South Africa. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_2018_low_carbon_sunrise_for_mining_industry.pdf

Chicago

Gulati, Manisha, and Louise Naudé. A low-carbon sunrise for the mining industry. WWF South Africa, 2018. https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_2018_low_carbon_sunrise_for_mining_industry.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gulati |first1=Manisha |last2=Naudé |first2=Louise |title=A low-carbon sunrise for the mining industry |publisher=WWF South Africa |date=2018 |url=https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_2018_low_carbon_sunrise_for_mining_industry.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gulati2018lowcarbon, author = {Gulati, Manisha and Naudé, Louise}, title = {{A low-carbon sunrise for the mining industry}}, institution = {WWF South Africa}, year = {2018}, url = {https://wwfafrica.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_2018_low_carbon_sunrise_for_mining_industry.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }