Australia is a founding partner of the Energy Resources Governance Initiative (ERGI), along with the governments of Botswana, Canada, Peru and the United States.
During a virtual meeting on the one-year anniversary of the initiative, founding partners recognised the increasing demand for energy resources, particularly critical minerals. The increasing use of renewable energy, electric vehicles and battery storage technologies, will drive unprecedented demand for these resources. Founding partners reaffirmed their shared interest in using ERGI to promote diversified, sustainable and ethical energy resource supply chains.
Growing this sector in Australia is in our economic interest. It will boost trade, create jobs and increase competition and choice. Australia has the opportunity to be a global leader in the ethical and environmentally responsible supply of key critical minerals.
The Critical Minerals Facilitation Office is working with countries around the world to address supply chain risks and promote ethical sustainable practices.
ERGI Toolkit
The mining sectors of the five founding partners have evolved in dramatically different ways. However, all operate on the principle of exemplifying or adopting global best practices in their mining sectors.
The goal of ERGI is to source and disseminate best practices across the international mining sector.
To do this, the founding partner countries have developed the ERGI Toolkit. The toolkit reinforces best practices for mining development, from the mapping of mineral resources to the closure and reclamation of mines. The toolkit covers:
- resource management
- project development
- production
- stewardship
The practices documented in the toolkit are not prescriptive. Every national mining sector, and the policy decisions that can best support it, are different. Instead, the Toolkit offers a view of how different mining leaders have succeeded in the past.
