Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs
We produce materials essential for human progress
We are the largest mining and metals company operating in Canada today
We work hard to leave a lasting, positive legacy everywhere we work
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For more than 150 years, we’ve been finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs.
We were at the forefront of automation – trucks, trains and drills – and remote operations in our industry. We’ve found better, lower carbon ways of producing materials like aluminium and scandium. And we’ve introduced sustainability labels for aluminium, copper cathode, and metal powders with our START initiative, providing material traceability with up to 14 key criteria.
The need for innovation is greater than ever. The energy transition and continued urbanisation will require more of the materials that make these things possible, such as copper, aluminium, iron ore, lithium and minerals. If the materials that make renewable energy possible cause more harm in production than their products offset, nobody benefits.
Much of the technology we need to get to net zero by 2050 doesn’t exist today, so we need to contribute, support and partner to make it a reality. We’re building meaningful partnerships and connections to help us tackle challenges and drive change.
Breakthrough technologies also create opportunities for our business. For example, technology advances are helping our geologists to find new deposits, unlock previously economically unviable resources, and extending the life of existing assets. We’re also creating new products from waste. We became the first producer of scandium oxide in North America, using an innovative process we developed to extract high purity scandium oxide from waste streams without the need for any additional mining.
In 2021, we launched the Safe Production System (SPS) to improve how we operate our assets, manage performance and help our people innovate. Through SPS, we are drawing on data more efficiently to understand asset health, maintenance scheduling and bottleneck solutions. We have started to see improved production efficiency, safety and engagement at the sites where we have deployed SPS. There are already hundreds of examples of how we are doing this. It applies to big, meaningful innovation and smaller everyday progress.