Institutional investors are increasingly viewing mining investments as impact investing if the firms are developing metals essential to crucial technology supply chains.
This is among the findings of a new study by Tresor Gold, a junior mining company focused on exploration and development projects in West Africa.
Tresor Gold’s research shows that 85% of institutional investors, including pension funds, private equity and venture capital funds, family offices, and sovereign wealth funds, believe miners producing metals for new technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs) and their battery storage systems are contributing to positive social and environmental outcomes.
This trend highlights the growing importance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria in mining investments.
Nearly two out of five (39%) investors say ESG criteria are very important when investing in gold and nickel miners, while 55% say it is quite important. Some 91% believe gold and nickel miners’ ESG credentials will become more important over the next three years when choosing which firms to back.
Investors themselves will take a bigger role in ensuring miners deliver sustainability, with 33% of those responsible for $307.5 billion assets under management believing investors will become much more proactively involved in ensuring sustainability at companies they invest in, and 60% believe they will become slightly more involved.
Tresor Gold’s research found that the focus on ESG was broader than sustainability – 86% of respondents expect a bigger focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion at mining firms over the next three years.
While investors believe that mining companies are doing a good job in general on ESG, they expect more work to be done on ESG reporting and transparency over the next five years, with 21% predicting a dramatic increase and 66% expecting a slight increase as the sector adapts to regulations from trade bodies and international groups.
“The mining industry has adapted effectively to the focus on ESG, but we certainly still have more work to do,” Tony Lawson, chief executive officer at Tresor Gold said. The company is raising capital to scale its Sierra Leone-based gold projects to production over an 18-month period and to acquire strategic West African critical metal projects.
Tresor Gold focuses its acquisition, exploration, and development efforts on commercial-grade gold and critical metal projects in West Africa. The company uses geotechnical data and predictive analytics to identify areas of favourable mineralisation, and then leverages local knowledge and expertise to conduct due diligence to structure effective drill programmes.
