Synthetic Lives: The Futures of Mining

Projektinformationen

SYNTHLIVES

ID Finanzhilfevereinbarung: 950672

DOI

10.3030/950672

EK-Unterschriftsdatum 6 April 2021

Startdatum 1 Mai 2021

Enddatum 31 Oktober 2026

Finanziert unter

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Gesamtkosten

€ 1 500 000,00

EU-Beitrag

€ 1 500 000,00

Koordiniert durch

FONDATION POUR L INSTITUT DE HAUTES ETUDES INTERNATIONALES ET DU DEVELOPPEMENT
Switzerland

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - SYNTHLIVES (Synthetic Lives: The Futures of Mining)

Berichtszeitraum: 2024-05-01 bis 2025-10-31

Zusammenfassung vom Kontext und den Gesamtzielen des Projekts

“Synthetic Lives” examines the emergent role of synthetic laboratories, automated operations, and digital technologies in natural resources economies. Empirically, the project examines i) new assemblages of human-made synthetic substances; ii) natural resource extraction divested of human labor; and iii) predictive, monitoring, and tracking projects governed by algorithms and other digital processes. The project contributes to these strands of research through three case studies: synthetic laboratories and industrial facilities; automated and ‘smart’ mines; and digital and data-driven mining activities.

Each case study corresponds to a sub-project within the larger research. Thus far, research has been carried out around the following three sub-projects: Sub-project A focuses on human-made, cultured, or lab-grown and industrially-produced minerals and metals. Research takes aim at gemological laboratories, synthetic producers, and industry associations concerned with these synthetic modes of resource production. Sub-project B takes stock of transformations pertaining to automation, electrification, and decarbonization in the extractive sector, broadly defined under the sway of the ‘smart mine’ of the future. Research is mainly interested in the institutions and actors spearheading these efforts – including, but not limited to corporate managers, machine operators, or the scientists and developers of said technologies in R&D centers – and their effect on the development of remote operations, automation and electrification of fleet and machinery, distribution, productivity, and energy solutions, as well as the labor force and neighboring communities. Sub-project C is mainly concerned with so-called digital mining and digital data in mining processes, which is to say the implementation of blockchain-based projects and other digital initiatives in the mineral sector by way of the developers, institutional representatives, and other stakeholders responsible for these processes. In addition to commodity-based traceability and digitalization projects, sub-project C looks into developments in digital extraction, including data analytics and crypto-mining operations.

These sub-projects are in the process of being implemented by the research team, with preliminary findings strengthening the original premise of the project, namely on the emergent relationship entangling synthetic and natural objects, humans and machines, material and digital spaces. As the project enters its last stages of research, Synthetic Lives will clarify the stakes for humans and non-human nature in increasingly synthetic, automated, and digital mining economies.

Arbeit, die ab Beginn des Projekts bis zum Ende des durch den Bericht erfassten Berichtszeitraums geleistet wurde, und die wichtigsten bis dahin erzielten Ergebnisse

From the beginning, the project carefully reviewed the relevant literature and documented different initiatives, online debates and meetings, as well as regulations relevant for synthetic, automated, and digital developments in the mining industry. The research team has also developed multiple collaborative initiatives in academic, policy, and industry circles. For each sub-project, the project has conducted visits, interviews, and ethnographic fieldwork, coupled with document analysis and a systematic monitoring of news databases.

The research conducted thus far has examined on-going initiatives while anticipating the future of mining that seeks to replace or complement natural resources with synthetically-produced substances, human labor with intelligent machines, and intermediaries with unmediated accountability. Some of the work performed thus far includes, for example, mapping the main producers of synthetic and natural graphite in Europe, as well as visits to refinery and smelting facilities; research visits to bauxite and aluminium production sites in Brazil, engaging with relevant companies and other social actors impacted by these activities, as well as the main protagonists of reforestation efforts on former bauxite, iron and gold mining sites; research stints to key R&D facilities in North America; and participation in key events and conferences organized by the industry.

Together, this research has brought a more complex understanding to processes of synthetic mining and biomining and empirical knowledge related to digital transformations, decarbonization, sustainability, and automation in the mining industry. The project’s main scientific achievements stem from a holistic overview of these processes, unbound by specific resources, region, or type of industry. Moreover, the project has sought to historicize these developments, looking at them in a broader temporal horizon and in line with conventional resources that saw a resurgence given the energy transition.

This is a particularly timely, if complex, research project as the mining industry navigates the challenges of sustainability and low-grade ore deposits and where extraction is seen as necessary to provide the raw materials necessary for ensuring the energy transition and a low-carbon future. For this reason, the main preliminary scientific achievements brought forth by the project deal with a careful and critical assessment of responses to polluting effects – and significant carbon abatement potential through decarbonization and electrification –, decreased productivity – and the introduction of automated and digital-based technologies for enhanced efficiency and management –, and the need for continuous and increased supply of raw materials – relying increasingly on synthetic-produced resources and biomining.

Fortschritte, die über den aktuellen Stand der Technik hinausgehen und voraussichtliche potenzielle Auswirkungen (einschließlich der bis dato erzielten sozioökonomischen Auswirkungen und weiter gefassten gesellschaftlichen Auswirkungen des Projekts)

One of the main innovations of the project pertains to the empirical and conceptual focus on previously unrelated or understudied areas of scholarly inquiry broadly framed as ‘synthetic lives’: assemblages of human and non-human participation in extractive processes; a focus on Global South in automation and digitalization efforts; and a conceptual interest on human-powered digital technologies designed to surrender the need for human input. The research developed so far confirms the promise of generating new insights relevant for anthropology and cognate disciplines. Although these remain largely embryonic technologies, currently being tested or in early stages of implementation throughout the world, this research has revealed the extent to which they are planned for broader adoption and expansion at a larger scale, as well as the limits and opportunities involved in its potential application.

In addition to important inroads with the most relevant protagonists to the dynamics included in the project, including the organization of dozens of interviews, the research conducted thus far has already been disseminated in different publications and outputs. Together, these publications constitute significant advances by bringing together previously unrelated or understudied domains and significantly contributing to public dissemination of research findings. The project’s outputs have already highlight the complex and enduring legacies of resource extraction and the need to move beyond extractive models of development towards alternative pathways that prioritize social justice, environmental sustainability, democratic governance and the well-being of both humans and non-humans. The project also broke new ground by examining energy storage solutions developed by and for the mining industry as well as a socio-environmental history of the mining and industrial complex in Amazonia with the global supply chain of bauxite–alumina–aluminium.

However, the project has encountered new developments in the extractive sector not anticipated in the original research plan, namely biomining and electrification strategies related to mining decarbonization. Biomining describes the dissolution of metals from low-grade ore through bacteria and other microorganisms. As mining footprint and the diminishing availability of high-grade ore veins become concerns for industry actors, these technologies represent a potentially cleaner extraction method of ore bodies previously considered not economically exploitable. Accordingly, the research team has added biomining technologies as one focus of research as it represents a potential novel technological solution to waste generation and management. This interest in biomining is in line with one of the original axes of the research project concerned with technological solutions based on harnessing nature-based solutions for extractive purposes, as well as the broader concern with entanglements of human and non-human natures to further the extractivist project. This expanded horizon of interspecies extractivism will be consolidated by a documentary film on reforestation projects in the Amazon, for which it is cooperating with mining companies and organizations of former miners.

Additionally, and in line with the original critical transformations taking place in the extractive sector and the development of “smart” mines, the research project has focused on the growing importance of decarbonization and electrification of mining operations. Electrification and decarbonization solutions have become a core component of the ‘mine of the future’, including the development of energy storage solutions for mobile and modular mines. As a pathway for decarbonization, these allow for new synergies between data analytics, fleet management, and productivity optimization crucial for both automated and digitally-enabled mines, where data and energy storage solutions are combined to allow remote operations and new modes of digital extraction.