December 15, 2020 | Mat Youkee
Demand is up for metals as stimulus money pumped into economies to counteract the COVID-19 pandemic has companies looking under every rock for sought after minerals. Will the new found demand bulldoze or bolster increased requirements for investing with environmental, social and governance criteria?
For mining economies that find themselves in a deep, pandemic-induced fiscal hole there is a simple solution: keep digging.
The investment and tax revenues from the industry have become a rare source of economic stability in the region and dozens of development projects stand ready for construction. But following a decade long bear-market for metals and with the industry’s record on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues under ever greater scrutiny, these new projects are increasingly turning to alternative and sustainable finance to get off the ground.
“Mining is the economic beacon in this turbulent year of economic and social crisis,” said Baldo Prokurica, Chile’s Minister of M