Innovation

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 the world’s first sustainability label for aluminium using blockchain technology.

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.