According to the Responsible Mining Foundation, most of the companies assessed show little or no evidence of efforts to strengthen the gender balance of their leadership and governance teams.
The document divides operations into six levels, from zero (entirely manual) to five (fully autonomous), and assists in the preparation of a business case for autonomous mining, depending on level and needs.
Asked about it, however, JX Nippon Mining — the metal unit of JXTG Holdings — declined to comment, adding it was not something that has already been decided.
In Tamil Nadu, a small breakaway group is attempting to make inroads in one district by promising to shutter a copper smelter run by mining giant Vedanta Ltd.
A problem has emerged in relation to the LME's "load-in and load-out" rules, which specify the tonnage that has to be shipped out when a queue to deliver metal is longer than 50 days.