FNV: TSX | NYSE 93 TCFD Disclosure Iron Ore: Steel is essential to every aspect of modern life and is a key component for low-carbon technologies from electric vehicles to wind turbines. Known as a hard-to-abate sector having high emissions and energy-intensive production, the low-carbon development of the iron and steel industry will be crucial in the transition to a low-carbon economy and for the achievement of climate goals. Our company has exposure to low-carbon footprint iron ore operations and innovative operators through our equity ownership in Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Corporation (which has minority ownership of Iron Ore Company of Canada (“IOC”) and holds royalties over IOC’s operations in Newfoundland and Labrador) and our royalty debentures covering Vale’s Northern and Southeastern System operations in Brazil. IOC pellets and concentrate are high grade products with world leading low alumina and ultra-low phosphorus, beneficial to the iron and steel industry. These pellets are high quality with a clean chemistry, which helps to lower the carbon footprint, compared to lower quality grades and forms of iron ore, when used in the iron and steel industry. In early 2021, IOC announced an initiative that will explore the viability of transforming iron ore pellets into low-carbon hot briquetted iron, a low-carbon steel feedstock, using green hydrogen generated from hydro electricity in Canada. Vale supplies iron ore products that require less energy use in steel blast furnaces, reducing emissions. One example is its Brazilian Blend Fines, a blend of ores produced in Carajás and Minas Gerais, with a higher iron content and fewer contaminants. Vale has recently partnered with Kobe Steel and Mitsui & Co. with the objective to offer low-carbon solutions and technologies to the steel industry. Battery Metals: Technologies involved in the clean energy transition are emerging and advancing rapidly through innovation and increased deployment. According to a 2020 World Bank Report * , the production of certain battery metals will have to increase by nearly 500% by 2050 to meet the growing demand for clean energy technologies and over 3 billion tonnes of these minerals and metals will be needed to deploy wind, solar and geothermal power, as well as the energy storage required to transition to a low-carbon economy. While most of the global demand for nickel is for the production of stainless steel, nickel sulphate, a highly purified nickel compound that helps deliver higher energy density in lithium-ion batteries, extending the driving range for electric vehicles, is expected to become the second largest application for nickel in 2030. Our company has royalties on nickel projects, including Mount Keith nickel mine in Australia, Eagle’s Nest deposit in the Ring of Fire in Ontario, Canada and Crawford Nickel-Cobalt project in Ontario, Canada. These projects are poised to benefit from increasing demand for nickel and we expect to see more opportunities to finance nickel and other battery metal projects both domestically and abroad. * “Minerals for Climate Action: The Mineral Intensity of the Clean Energy Transition”, World Bank Group, 2020. “Our company has royalties on nickel projects, including Mount Keith nickel mine in Australia, Eagle’s Nest deposit in the Ring of Fire in Ontario, Canada and Crawford Nickel-Cobalt project in Ontario, Canada.”
2022 ESG Report | Franco-Nevada Page 92 Page 94