In mineral exploration, pressure is growing to develop innovative technologies and methods with a lower impact on the social and physical environment. To assess the performance and impact of these technologies and methods, test sites are required. Embedded in the literature on sustainable development, this paper explores how social and environmental measures can be implemented in the design of test sites and what industry stake can learn from sustainable test sites. Through qualitative research, two value networks were developed, one for a sustainable test site approach and another for the existing business practice in mineral exploration. Respondents include public sector officials as well as experts in the social, environmental, business, geoscience, and industry fields. The analysis identifies key drivers for the development of socially and environmentally accepted test sites, thus drawing up actionable points for the mineral exploration industry to increase sustainability. The findings of this paper suggest that the integration of experts and partners from social, as well as environmental, sciences drives sustainability at test sites. For industry application, this results in the need to adapt the activities performed, align resource use with sustainability indicators, and also reconfigure the network of partners towards more socially and environmentally oriented business practices.

Drastic measures are required to meet the standards of the Paris Agreement and limit the increase of global average temperatures well below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels. Mining activities are typically considered as unsustainable but, at the same time, metals such as cobalt and lithium are essential to sustain the energy transition. Several sustainability goals defined by the United Nations (UN) require large quantities of raw materials. Exploration and extractives activities are required in order to contribute to meeting sustainability standards. Future sourcing of metals will need to implement procedures that go well beyond current ecological, economic, and social requirements and practices. In this paper we assess the usual sustainability criteria and how they apply to the extractives sector. Sustainability can only be achieved if one accepts that the natural capital can be substituted by other forms of capital (so called weak concept of sustainability). Sourcing the raw materials increasingly demanded by our societies will need transparent and inclusive stakeholder participation as well as a holistic understanding of the impact of extractives activities to reach this weak sustainability status. Our analysis shows that the sustainability of mining cannot be reached without harmonized political instruments and investment policies that take the three pillars of environmental, economic, and social sustainability as a major priority.

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This paper presents a bibliometric study on patents and scientific publications related to airborne electromagnetic methods used as less invasive technologies in mineral exploration. A statistical analysis of the documents reveals the main players, technology trends, and collaboration patterns via bibliometric techniques. The article aims to analyse the gap between the model of sustainable less invasive innovations and the concrete implementation of the technology pull. Special attention is paid to the enablers of sustainable development and their presence in the technology landscape for less invasive exploration technologies.

Mit qualitativen Experteninterviews analysiert dieser Beitrag die Praxisrelevanz von quantitativ gewichteten F&E (Forschung und Entwicklung)-Trends der kommenden zwei bis fünf Jahre. Die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse sollen dazu beitragen, Verantwortlichen und Mitarbeitenden in F&E einen besseren Einblick in relevante Praxisthemen der industriellen F&E zu geben und Chancen und Herausforderungen aufzeigen. Diese Grundlage soll Entscheider befähigen, kollektive Tendenzen industrieller F&E abzuleiten und geeignete Investitionsstrategien zu formulieren.   This article uses qualitative expert interviews to analyze the practical relevance of quantitatively weighted R&D (research and developmejt) trends over the next two to five years. The findings will give R&D managers and employees a better understanding of relevant topics in R&D practice and highlight opportunities and challenges thereof. The results will enable decision-makers to derive collective tendencies of industrial R&D and to formulate appropriate investment strategies.