Mining sustainability initiative to highlight Qld resources sector excellence

THE Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has welcomed the adoption of a new initiative to promote excellence across the sector’s commitments to safety, environment, First Nations and broader community engagement.

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said that the Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) initiative, 'Towards Sustainable Mining' (TSM) was developed by the Mining Association of Canada and is being adopted in Australia through the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA).

“The Queensland resources sector and the 420,000 men and women working in it or because of it have a lot to be proud of,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“Working with our communities and governments, the resources sector delivered more than $82 billion in economic prosperity to Queensland last year.

“That’s an injection of more than $224 million into the Queensland economy every day.

“Critically, we are the largest per-capita employer of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland, with over 4 percent of our workforce identifying as Indigenous, the highest rate of any private sector, and on par with the representation of Indigenous people in the broader Queensland community.”

Mr Macfarlane said Queensland’s resources sector also worked with 15,200 local businesses and supported more than 1200 community organisations.

“We are delivering the energy mix for Queensland, the rest of the Australia and the world,” he said.

“Queensland has globally significant reserves of coal, gas and metals that are so essential for power generation, advanced manufacturing and establishing renewable energy, battery storage, electric vehicles and pioneering hydrogen.”

Mr Macfarlane said the Queensland resources sector worked within a comprehensive legislative framework, including transparent environmental impact statement assessment and approval processes and world-leading financial assurance laws. 

Click here to view Minerals Council of Australia and the Mining Association of Canada statement

 

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