SANTIAGO, April 17 (Reuters) - The world's governments

must do more to convince local communities and Indigenous groups

to support mines that produce critical minerals needed to power

the energy transition and fight climate change, the head of a

prominent industry group said.

Mines across the globe increasingly face opposition for

religious, ecological or other reasons, with pressure seeming to

intensify in the past year after officials in Panama, responding

to protests, shuttered a mine that supplies 1% of the world's

copper.

Yet efforts to stem a rise in global temperatures have

boosted the use of solar panels, electric vehicles and other

technologies that are built with large amounts of copper, nickel

and other critical minerals.

If governments are serious about combating climate change,

they must find a way for some projects to advance rather than

expecting companies and host communities to negotiate between

themselves, Rohitesh Dhawan, CEO of the International Council on

Mining and Metals, told Reuters on the sidelines of the World

Copper Conference in Santiago this week.

"Now that we have governments more actively engaged in

increasing the supply of critical minerals ... that comes with a

responsibility to help broker an effective and trusted

relationship between the industry and impacted communities,"

said Dhawan, who joined ICMM in 2021 after a career in

consulting.

"We can't have a situation where governments are entirely

hands off."

London-based ICMM, whose 24 members including BHP

and Glencore ( GLCNF ) account for roughly a third of the world's

metals production, is reviewing its policy first crafted a

decade ago on how miners should interact with Indigenous

communities, Dhawan said, in what is known as free, prior and

informed consent (FPIC).

"There's a need for reframing and a need for an honest

conversation about where does the responsibility of a mine start

and end, and where does the responsibility of government start

and end?" Dhawan said.

The review reflects a strategy shift of sorts, with ICMM now

pushing governments to bear the full responsibility of obtaining

FPIC. Dhawan said industry should instead be responsible for

managing a mine's local impact.

The mining industry, though, should not necessarily build a

mine if it receives government approval but not local support,

he added. "Everybody benefits when we transition to a low carbon

economy, but the impacts are always local."

INDUSTRY LEADERS

The tension between the rising need for copper and

entrenched opposition was a central theme this week at the

Santiago conference, which organizers said was attended by more

than 500 people.

"Everybody asks for decarbonization, but what we face all

the time is absolutely a battle in every permitting process,"

said Roland Harings, CEO of Aurubis, Europe's largest

copper producer.

Executives acknowledged the industry has not always had the

best reputation, especially after deadly mining accidents in

recent years.

"We need to be able to demonstrate that we will partner with

host communities in a more responsible and long-term manner,"

said Jonathan Price, CEO of Teck Resources ( TECK ), which

operates across the Americas.

That was echoed by executives from Codelco, Chile's

state-owned copper giant, as well as BHP and others.

"Mining is good for the world, but it needs to be done

well," said Simon Collins of Australia's South32 ( SHTLF ), which

is developing a zinc mine in the United States that has the

support of President Joe Biden's administration.