The climate change impacts of mining are often not fully accounted for, although the environmental impact of mineral extraction more generally is widely studied. Copper mining can serve as a case study to analyse the measurable pathways by which mining contributes to climate change through direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. For example, mining, processing and transportation require fuel and electricity, and the decomposition of carbonate minerals, employed to reduce environmental impacts, also releases carbon dioxide. Overall, we estimate that greenhouse gas emissions associated with primary mineral and metal production was equivalent to approximately 10% of the total global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in 2018. For copper mining, fuel consumption increased by 130% and electricity consumption increased by 32% per unit of mined copper in Chile from 2001 to 2017, largely due to decreasing ore grade. This trend of increasing energy demand to produce the same quantity of some metals compounds the problems of increased metal demand due to the pressures of new technologies and increasing population. For green technologies to be implemented effectively, it is necessary that the mining industry and regulators accurately and transparently account for greenhouse gas emissions to implement mitigation strategies.

尽管更广泛地研究了矿产开采对环境的影响，但往往无法充分考虑采矿对气候变化的影响。铜矿开采可以作为案例研究来分析可测量的途径，通过这些途径，矿业可以通过直接和间接的温室气体排放促进气候变化。例如，采矿，加工和运输需要燃料和电力，用于减少环境影响的碳酸盐矿物的分解也会释放二氧化碳。总体而言，我们估计与主要矿产和金属生产相关的温室气体排放量约等于2018年全球与能源相关的温室气体总排放量的10％。对于铜矿开采，从2001年到2017年，智利每单位矿山铜的燃料消耗量增加了130％，电力消耗增加了32％，这在很大程度上是由于矿石品位的降低。生产相同数量的某些金属的能源需求不断增长的趋势加剧了由于新技术的压力和人口增加所带来的金属需求增加的问题。为了有效地实施绿色技术，采矿业和监管机构必须准确，透明地对温室气体排放进行核算，以实施缓解策略。