The Horizon Europe CRM-geothermal project: Deliverable 4.1 – ESG due diligence of the combined extraction of CRMs and energy, incl. UNFC/UNRMS compatible reporting and policy recommendation

Every project for the extraction of minerals has to be subject to a PESTEL (political, environmental, societal, technological, economic, legal) analysis to assess its viability. The combined extraction of heat and minerals is no exception even though it would not be a classical mining project with respect to the impacts and legacies it may create. To ensure the economic viability of a project, it is normally subject to a due diligence assessment according to CRIRSCO-aligned resource assessment and a classification according to UNFC. However, CRIRSCO-aligned assessments (according to PERC in Europe) cover only mineral resources and not energy resources, such as geothermal heat. Starting from the hypothesis that all materials and energy flows are likely to cause impacts, this report set out to map the relevant flows for the various metal extraction schemes investigated under CRM-geothermal. In addition, a comprehensive risk catalogue for combined extraction projects was developed. Together with material flow analyses this allows also a comparative risk and impact assessment with other types of mineral extraction. The data collated from the literature and through the experimental work under CRM-geothermal indicate that the environmental impacts and likely legacies from the combined extraction of metals and heat, are considerably lower than those arising from conventional mining. The environmental savings arise mainly from the absence of large-scale excavations and the associated energy consumption and the need to manage the resulting extractive wastes adequately. A comparison of the potential environmental impacts between different lithium extraction methods was undertaken. Extraction from hard-rocks is likely to have the highest impacts, while extraction from salars can be comparable to combined extraction, but it ultimately depends on whether pre-concentration by evaporation or a direct lithium extraction (DLE) method is used. The development of material flow diagrams for the different extraction technologies developed under CRM-geothermal, helped to reflect on potential direct and indirect environmental impacts, including CO2-footprints. The still too low Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) of the technologies did not permit to make meaningful quantitative assessments, but the flow diagrams indicate areas for optimisation. To date no specific guidance on UNFC compliant assessment of combined extraction exists and this report proposes an approach that has been submitted to the UNECE working groups on minerals and geothermal energy for consideration, where it started a process of deliberation. The proposal has also been discussed with the Pan-European Resource and Reserves Reporting Committee (PERC) as the European body of CRIRSCO. The data for a PESTEL assessment are completed by an assessment of the regulatory schemes across European countries plus Turkey. However, in the majority of countries no specific regulations for combined extraction exist yet. The societal and economic aspects feeding into the PESTEL assessment are subject of complementary CRM-geothermal reports, which are informed by the risk assessments laid out in this report.