In an effort to better pursue their emissions reduction targets, JX Metals Corporation and BHP have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of a Green Enabling Partnership aimed at making the copper supply chain more sustainable.
Through the Green Enabling Partnership, JX Metals and BHP aim to support the continued development of a responsible copper supply chain by enhancing traceability and material origin verification across industry – from producers to downstream consumers such as copper product manufacturers, as well as the semiconductor, information technology and automobile industries.
Additionally, the Green Enabling Partnership proposes to advocate for circular economy and emissions reduction through copper concentrates and sulphuric acid supply between both parties, promote knowledge sharing in areas of estimating and reducing carbon footprint of electrolytic copper, and engaging in research and development to support improved material processing and energy efficient smelting operations.
JX Metals and BHP have a long-standing relationship dating back to 1985 with the commissioning of Escondida, BHP’s largest copper mine. This relationship has been strengthened in recent years through various collaboration opportunities – for example, BHP has supplied copper concentrates extracted from its mines in Chile to JX Metals’ smelters in Japan, and in turn, utilised sulphuric acid produced in JX Metals’ smelting processes for solvent extraction in its mines.
JX Metals Director and Deputy CEO, Kazuhiro Hori, said JX Metals’ partnerships in the downstream copper supply chain are expanding in scope.
“Our efforts to produce more sustainable copper are centred on green hybrid smelting at the Saganoseki Smelter and Refinery, and partnerships with upstream sectors are essential to reduce our scope three GHG emissions reported by JX Metals in copper concentrate production and transportation,” Mr Hori said.
“We will respond to our stakeholders’ needs by enhancing our ESG efforts in upstream sectors through this partnership with BHP, a vital responsibility for JX Metals.”
BHP’s Chief Commercial Officer, Vandita Pant, said BHP prides itself on identifying and implementing innovative sustainability.
“We recognise that solutions are not developed in silos, and partnership and collaboration with our customers and partners across the value chain often bring about the best and most sustainable outcomes in pursuit of these goals,” Ms Pant said.
“We look forward to working with JX Metals on the Green Enabling Partnership that aims to support further GHG emissions reduction in the supply chain for copper, one of the most critical minerals in the journey towards global net zero ambitions.”
President of BHP Americas, Rag Udd, said that in a world in which the demand for copper is on the rise, improving the sustainability of producing processes is non-negotiable.
“The copper of our mines produced in Chile are fundamental for decarbonising the value chain and for providing the resources the world needs to enable the energy transition,” Mr Udd said.
“BHP has made significant progress in increasing the sustainability and ESG standards of its copper production, and we always aim to deliver high-quality and responsibly produced copper. I’m sure that this partnership will benefit our customers and will allow us to go even further in our effort to decarbonise through innovative production processes.”
Featured image: (left to right) JX Metals Director and Deputy CEO, Kazuhiro Hori, and BHP’s Chief Commercial Officer, Vandita Pant, with their respective signed copies of the MoU. Image credit: BHP.
