Video: Rio Tinto’s Mehta on how sustainability is driving mining’s big shifts

Angelina Mehta, general manager for joint ventures with Rio Tinto Aluminum, has seen some big changes in the mining sector over her 27 years in the business.

One of the most fundamental is how miners have gone from being far away from their customers to being under the microscope, Mehta said at a recent event in Washington, D.C.

“We have two bauxite mines in the portfolio and we have had automotive producers requesting visits to the sites because of that scrutiny of the whole value chain, and what can they say to their own customers,” she shared.

In turn, Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO; ASX: RIO) also asks tougher questions of its own suppliers. “It’s a continuous circle.”

Another lasting trend is that miners are more open to collaboration. Rio Tinto, which aims to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by half by 2030, has entered into several sustainability-focused partnerships. In Mehta’s portfolio alone, that includes an aluminum recycling JV with Matalco and the Elysis partnership with Alcoa (NYSE: AA) to develop technology that can produce carbon-free aluminum.

“2030 is only six years away and in order for us to get there quickly, we need to partner,” Mehta said.

Mehta and The Northern Miner editor-in-chief Alisha Hiyate spoke at the Energy Transition Metals Summit, organized by The Northern Miner and Precious Metals Summit Conferences, April 29-30.

Watch the entire conversation below.