Circular resourcing: the role of mining in a circular economy

Thesis

The global transition towards net-zero carbon economies is driving unprecedented demand for critical minerals essential for clean energy technologies. While the circular economy (CE) concept has emerged as a promising paradigm offering pathways to reduce demand for critical energy transition minerals through approaches, such as recycling and reuse, evidence suggests that downstream-focused approaches alone cannot meet the growing mineral requirements for global decarbonisation, necessitating continued primary extraction. This thesis examines how CE approaches can be applied to mining operations to address the dual challenge of securing critical minerals while minimising societal-environmental impacts.

Through three interconnected studies, this thesis broadens the scope of CE research by examining its application to the mining sector and resource-dependent regions, with a particular focus on Chile as one of the world’s leading copper and lithium producers. The first study demonstrates that recycling alone cannot meet future copper demand, a key critical energy transition mineral, highlighting the need for alternative CE strategies beyond recycling. The second study investigates how CE approaches are being applied in the Chilean mining sector, revealing both innovative practices, such as tailings valorisation, seawater use, and equipment remanufacturing, and the rebranding of existing sustainability initiatives as CE interventions. The third study examines the spatial dynamics of CE transitions in Chile’s mining territories, demonstrating how the spatial configuration of economic activities fundamentally shapes regional CE transitions.

The thesis makes three key contributions to academic knowledge. First, it extends CE scholarship by demonstrating its relevance for the mining sector and by improving conceptual tools to analyse CE implementation in primary production. Second, it advances the economic geography literature by showing how territorial characteristics and spatial configurations of economic activity shape CE transitions in resource-rich regions. Third, it contributes to sustainability transitions research by demonstrating the role of place-specific factors in shaping transition pathways. Together, these contributions underline that successful CE transitions in the mining sector and its host regions depend on addressing both operational practices within firms and broader spatial dynamics, providing crucial guidance for a more sustainable resource extraction model.

Authors: Born, K

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-v0voeg21k
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: copper; economic geography; Chile; minerals; critical minerals; metals; sustainability transitions; energy transition; lithium; circular economy; energy transition minerals; mining
• Subjects: Circular economy; Economic geography; Sustainability