Professor J.R.R. Tolkien died 50 years ago, and we can learn from his hero in Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins, who made an expedient choice for his guide into Mordor.
Rather like the combatants on Middle-Earth, cursory observers of our conflict over the environment might conclude that there is a sharp distinction between the forces of good and evil, and also that the mining industry is in the wrong camp.
One side of this battle is widely portrayed as dark, slow and cold, and is associated with earth and shadows, while the other is seen as warm and focused, and associated with the sky, positivity and light. I am drawing these generalized descriptions from, of course, the two principles of Chinese philosophy; Yin (which approximates to the public view of the mining sector) and Yang (the perception, perhaps, of environmental groups).
Yin is associated with everything bad, while Yang is associated with all things good, positive and happy. The Chinese philosophical principle of Yin and Yang is that all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites. In terms of cosmology, the universe is created out of a primary chaos of material energy, organized into cycles of Yin and Yang, which are formed into objects and lives.
Opposites perhaps, but these two forces are considered by the Chinese to be interdependent, complementary and mutually transformative. In contrast, the public views miners and environmentalists as quite separate, and that they have girded their loins for combat.
This is a valid opinion, to a point. Loins have been girded (at least in the figurative sense) and there is certainly fighting. However, although environmental organizations are hardly to be counted amongst the natural friends of our industry, we have a common enemy in carbon emissions.
Early renditions of the Bible advised us to gird our loins ahead of difficult endeavours. King James I’s ‘Authorised Version’ of 1611, for example, has numerous references to preparing for conflict by girding loins (essentially hitching up your robe). These rather graphic guidelines for difficult circumstances were replaced in later versions of the Bible with less poetic instructions. The message was the same, however, namely the advantage in conflict of being able to move more easily.
Even with enhanced mobility, most successful campaigns recognize the need for allies. With apologies to Ali ibn Abi Talib, the mining industry has three types of allies; our friends, the friends of friends and the enemies of our enemy.
Those of you with a grounding in Arab history will recall that Ali ibn Abi Talib (c600-661) is considered by Shia Muslims to have been their first Imam (and so a direct successor of Muhammad, to whom he was a cousin and son-in-law). Over 200 of his sermons, some 80 letters and almost 500 sayings were collated in the 11th century into the book ‘Nahj al-Balagha.’ In addition to categorizing friends, Ali wrote “Your enemies are your enemy, the enemy of your friend and the friend of your enemy.”
Indeed, the Latin phrase ‘Amicus meus, inimicus inimici mei’ (My friend, the enemy of my enemy) had become common throughout Europe by the early 18th century (although the first recorded use in England didn’t come until 1884).
We know that the mining industry needs to play an ever greater role in the clean-energy sector if the latter is to achieve its objectives. We also know that the path to net-zero carbon emissions is fraught with mineral dependencies, from the lithium, nickel and cobalt in electric vehicle batteries to the aluminium, copper and zinc in solar panels.
Unfortunately, this truism seems to be lost on most environmental groups. One year ago, Thomas Hochman wrote in City Journal (a publication of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, which describes itself as a free-market think tank) that “by the end of the 20th century, protesters had notched so many wins against new mining operations that the U.S. industry had been all but wiped out.”
Hochman argued that, as a result of a sustained campaign against it, the American minerals sector was “hollowed out.” He observed that, since the mid-20th century, America’s critical-mineral import dependence had almost tripled, and China had secured near monopolistic control of the global mineral-supply chain.
In the face of widespread opposition to mining, we must turn, as in so many things, to Charles Darwin (1809-1882) for inspiration. He is widely attributed as saying, “In the long history of humankind, those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” (Incidentally, this source is disputed, and the quote doesn’t appear in Darwin’s seminal work, ‘On the Origin of Species,’ published in 1859.)
Allying with an enemy of one’s enemy has a chequered history (Russia in WWII springs to mind) but, to prevail, the mining industry needs to improvise and collaborate with those with whom we share a foe. Tolkien (1892-1973) gave us a salutary example. Our hopes don’t rest on the shoulders of two little hobbits but, like them, we do need to be shown the way by a Gollum figure.
Dr. Chris Hinde is a mining engineer and the director of Pick and Pen Ltd., a U.K.-based consulting firm. He previously worked for S&P Global Market Intelligence’s Metals and Mining division.
CO2 is not a common enemy. Without it there is no human race, let alone Yin/Yang.