Dr Éléonore Lèbre
Senior Research Fellow
CSRM
+61 7 3346 4009
Dr. Éléonore Lèbre specialises in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks in the mining industry. She connects her work with topical issues such as tailings dam failures, renewable energy transition and critical metals. During her work at the CSRM Éléonore also developed expertise in mining-induced displacement resettlement, sustainability reporting, social incident investigation and mine closure.
Éléonore's PhD was undertaken at the Sustainable Minerals Institute’s Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation. Her thesis applies the concept of circular economy to the management of mining waste in the objectives of minimising waste and optimising resource extraction. Éléonore holds two MSc degrees from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and the Ecole Centrale Marseille in France, through the Top Industrial Managers in Engineering (TIME) association’s double degree agreements.
Current Research and Industry Engagement
Éléonore currently works within the Complex Orebodies Programme in collaboration with researchers across the SMI centres. Her research centres on using global data on mining projects and ESG metrics to assess the risks associated with operating mines and new discoveries.
Over the past three years, Éléonore has been involved in industry research consortiums as well as projects with industry partners including Rio Tinto, Newcrest, MMG and OceanaGold.
Key Publications
Lèbre, Éléonore, Stringer, Martin, Svobodova, Kamila, Owen, John R., Kemp, Deanna, Côte, Claire, Arratia-Solar, Andrea and Valenta, Rick K. (2020). The social and environmental complexities of extracting energy transition metals. Nature Communications, 11 (1) 4823, 4823. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18661-9
Lèbre, Éléonore, Owen, John R., Corder, Glen D., Kemp, Deanna, Stringer, Martin and Valenta, Rick K. (2019). Source risks as constraints to future metal supply. Environmental Science and Technology, 53 (18), 10571-10579. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.9b02808
Valenta, R. K., Kemp, D., Owen, J. R., Corder, G. D. and Lèbre, E. (2019). Re-thinking complex orebodies: consequences for the future world supply of copper. Journal of Cleaner Production, 220, 816-826. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.02.146
Owen, J. R., Kemp, D., Lèbre, E., Svobodova, K. and Pérez Murillo, G. (2020). Catastrophic tailings dam failures and disaster risk disclosure. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 42 101361, 101361. doi: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101361
Kemp, Deanna, Owen, John R. and Lèbre, Éléonore (2020). Tailings facility failures in the global mining industry: will a ‘transparency turn’ drive change? Business Strategy and the Environment bse.2613. doi: 10.1002/bse.2613
Publications
Journal Articles
Bainton, Nicholas, Skrzypek, Emilia E. and Lèbre, Éléonore (2025). Compound exposure: Climate change, vulnerability and the energy-extractives nexus in the Pacific. World Development, 190 106958, 106958. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2025.106958
Lèbre, Eléonore, Sharma, Vigya and Corzo-Remigio, Amelia (2024). Extracting minerals for the energy transition – Local data for global decision making. Journal of Cleaner Production, 474 143563, 1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.143563
Lawley, Christopher J. M., Haynes, Marcus, Chudasama, Bijal, Goodenough, Kathryn, Eerola, Toni, Golev, Artem, Zhang, Steven E., Park, Junhyeok and Lèbre, Eleonore (2024). Geospatial Data and Deep Learning Expose ESG Risks to Critical Raw Materials Supply: The Case of Lithium. Earth Science, Systems and Society, 4 (1) 10109, 1-22. doi: 10.3389/esss.2024.10109
Owen, John R., Kemp, Deanna, Lechner, Alex M., Ang Li Ern, Michelle, Lèbre, Éléonore, Mudd, Gavin M., Macklin, Mark G., Saputra, Muhamad Risqi U., Witra, Tahjudil and Bebbington, Anthony (2024). Increasing mine waste will induce land cover change that results in ecological degradation and human displacement. Journal of Environmental Management, 351 119691, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119691
Hilson, Gavin, Hu, Yanfei, Hilson, Abigail, Owen, John R., Lebre, Eleonore and Sauerwein, Titus (2023). Rethinking resource enclavity in developing countries: Embedding Global Production Networks in gold mining regions. Journal of Economic Geography, 24 (1), 95-116. doi: 10.1093/jeg/lbad028
Ang, Michelle Li Ern, Owen, John R., Gibbins, Christopher N., Lèbre, Éléonore, Kemp, Deanna, Saputra, Muhamad Risqi U., Everingham, Jo-Anne and Lechner, Alex M. (2023). Systematic review of GIS and remote sensing applications for assessing the socioeconomic impacts of mining. Journal of Environment and Development, 32 (3), 243-273. doi: 10.1177/10704965231190126
Lèbre, Éléonore, Kung, Anthony, Savinova, Ekaterina and Valenta, Rick K. (2023). Corrigendum to ‘Mining on land or in the deep sea? Overlooked considerations of a reshuffling in the supply source mix’ (Resources, Conservation & Recycling (2023) 191, (S0921344923000356), (10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.106898)). Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 196 107032, 1-1. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.107032
Garcia-Zavala, Consuelo, Ordens, Carlos M., Pagliero, Liliana, Lèbre, Éléonore, Aitken, Douglas and Stringer, Martin (2023). An approach for prioritising environmental, social and governance (ESG) water-related risks for the mining industry: The case of Chile. The Extractive Industries and Society, 14 101259, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.exis.2023.101259
Lèbre, Éléonore, Kung, Anthony, Savinova, Ekaterina and Valenta, Rick K. (2023). Mining on land or in the deep sea? Overlooked considerations of a reshuffling in the supply source mix. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 191 106898, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.106898
Savinova, E., Evans, C., Lèbre, É., Stringer, M., Azadi, M. and Valenta, R.K. (2023). Will global cobalt supply meet demand? The geological, mineral processing, production and geographic risk profile of cobalt. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 190 106855, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106855
Valenta, Rick K., Lèbre, Éléonore, Antonio, Christian, Franks, Daniel M., Jokovic, Vladimir, Micklethwaite, Steven, Parbhakar-Fox, Anita, Runge, Kym, Savinova, Ekaterina, Segura-Salazar, Juliana, Stringer, Martin, Verster, Isabella and Yahyaei, Mohsen (2023). Decarbonisation to drive dramatic increase in mining waste–options for reduction. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 190 106859, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106859
Owen, John R., Kemp, Deanna, Lechner, Alex M., Harris, Jill, Zhang, Ruilian and Lèbre, Éléonore (2023). Author Correction: Energy transition minerals and their intersection with land-connected peoples. Nature Sustainability, 6 (8), 1024-1024. doi: 10.1038/s41893-022-01057-6
Owen, John R., Kemp, Deanna, Lechner, Alex M., Harris, Jill, Zhang, Ruilian and Lèbre, Éléonore (2023). Energy transition minerals and their intersection with land-connected peoples. Nature Sustainability, 6 (2), 203-211. doi: 10.1038/s41893-022-00994-6
Svobodova, Kamila, Owen, John R., Kemp, Deanna, Moudrý, Vítězslav, Lèbre, Éléonore, Stringer, Martin and Sovacool, Benjamin K. (2022). Decarbonization, population disruption and resource inventories in the global energy transition. Nature Communications, 13 (1) 7674, 1-16. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-35391-2
Everingham, Jo-Anne, Svobodova, Kamila, Lèbre, Éléonore, Owen, John R. and Worden, Sandy (2022). Comparative capacity of global mining regions to transition to a post-mining future. Extractive Industries and Society, 11 101136, 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.exis.2022.101136
Lèbre, Éléonore, Owen, John R., Kemp, Deanna and Valenta, Rick K. (2022). Complex orebodies and future global metal supply: an introduction. Resources Policy, 77 102696, 102696. doi: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2022.102696
Azadi, Mehdi, Lèbre, Éléonore, Ali, Saleem H., Steen, John and Wall, Frances (2022). Future of battery metals supply. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 182 106283, 106283. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106283
Owen, John R., Kemp, Deanna, Harris, Jill, Lechner, Alex M. and Lebre, Eleonore (2022). Fast track to failure? Energy transition minerals and the future of consultation and consent. Energy Research and Social Science, 89 102665, 1-14. doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2022.102665
Arratia-Solar, A., Svobodova, K., Lèbre, É. and Owen, J.R. (2022). Conceptual framework to assist in the decision-making process when planning for post-mining land-uses. The Extractive Industries and Society, 10 101083, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.exis.2022.101083
Lèbre, Éléonore, Owen, John R., Stringer, Martin, Kemp, Deanna and Valenta, Rick K. (2021). Global Scan of Disruptions to the Mine Life Cycle: Price, Ownership, and Local Impact. Environmental Science & Technology, 55 (8) acs.est.0c08546, 4324-4331. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.0c08546
Owen, J. R., Kemp, D., Lèbre, É., Harris, J. and Svobodova, K. (2021). A global vulnerability analysis of displacement caused by resource development projects. The Extractive Industries and Society, 8 (2) 100877, 100877. doi: 10.1016/j.exis.2021.01.012
Kung, Anthony, Svobodova, Kamila, Lèbre, Eléonore, Valenta, Rick, Kemp, Deanna and Owen, John R. (2021). Governing deep sea mining in the face of uncertainty. Journal of Environmental Management, 279 111593, 111593. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111593
Bainton, Nicholas, Kemp, Deanna, Lèbre, Eleonore, Owen, John R. and Marston, Greg (2021). The energy‐extractives nexus and the just transition. Sustainable Development, 29 (4) sd.2163, 624-634. doi: 10.1002/sd.2163
Lèbre, Éléonore, Stringer, Martin, Svobodova, Kamila, Owen, John R., Kemp, Deanna, Côte, Claire, Arratia-Solar, Andrea and Valenta, Rick K. (2020). The social and environmental complexities of extracting energy transition metals. Nature Communications, 11 (1) 4823, 4823. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18661-9
Kemp, Deanna, Owen, John R. and Lèbre, Éléonore (2020). Tailings facility failures in the global mining industry: will a ‘transparency turn’ drive change?. Business Strategy and the Environment, 30 (1) bse.2613, 122-134. doi: 10.1002/bse.2613
Owen, J. R., Kemp, D., Lèbre, E., Svobodova, K. and Pérez Murillo, G. (2020). Catastrophic tailings dam failures and disaster risk disclosure. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 42 101361, 101361. doi: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101361
Lèbre, Éléonore, Owen, John R., Corder, Glen D., Kemp, Deanna, Stringer, Martin and Valenta, Rick K. (2019). Source risks as constraints to future metal supply. Environmental Science and Technology, 53 (18), 10571-10579. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.9b02808
Valenta, R. K., Kemp, D., Owen, J. R., Corder, G. D. and Lèbre, E. (2019). Re-thinking complex orebodies: consequences for the future world supply of copper. Journal of Cleaner Production, 220, 816-826. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.02.146
Lebre, Eleonore, Corder, Glen and Golev, Artem (2017). The role of the mining industry in a circular economy: a framework for resource management at the mine site level. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 21 (3), 662-672. doi: 10.1111/jiec.12596
Lebre, Éléonore, Corder, Glen D. and Golev, Artem (2016). Sustainable practices in the management of mining waste: a focus on the mineral resource. Minerals Engineering, 107, 34-42. doi: 10.1016/j.mineng.2016.12.004
Golev, Artem, Lebre, Eleonore and Corder, Glen (2016). The contribution of mining to the emerging circular economy. The AusIMM Bulletin (6), 30-32.
Lèbre, Éléonore and Corder, Glen (2015). Integrating industrial ecology thinking into the management of mining waste. Resources, 4 (4), 765-786. doi: 10.3390/resources4040765
Conference Papers
Valenta, R., Lèbre, E., Plint, N. and Clark, A. (2023). Unlocking complex orebodies. 26th World Mining Congress, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 26 - 29 June 2023. World Mining Congress.
Lebre, E., Valenta, R. K., Kemp, D., Owen, J. R. and Corder, G. D. (2019). Complex orebodies: the role of social and environmental complexities in current mine projects development. 9th International Conference on Sustainable Development in the Minerals Industry (SDIMI 2019), Sydney, Australia, 27-29 May 2019. Carlton, VIC, Australia: AusIMM.
Svobodova, K., Owen, J. R., Lebre, E., Edraki, M. and Littleboy, A. (2019). The multi-risk vulnerability of global coal regions in the context of mine closure. 13th International Conference on Mine Closure, Perth, WA Australia, 3-5 September 2019. Perth, WA Australia: Australian Centre for Geomechanics. doi: 10.36487/ACG_rep/1915_45_Svobodova
Lebre, Eleonore, Valenta, Rick, Kemp, Deanna, Owen, John and Corder, Glen (2018). Accounting for social and environmental complexities in mining project developments: the case of copper. Complex Orebodies, Brisbane, Australia, 19-21 November 2018. Carlton, VIC, Australia: AusIMM.
Thesis
Lèbre, Éléonore (2018). Mine waste or future resource? Integrating industrial ecology thinking into a mining project. PhD Thesis, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2018.706
Data Collections
Lèbre, Eléonore and Bulovic, Nevenka (2025). Mining, responsible investment and ESG: a global spatial dataset of mining companies and properties. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/2c8cbf6
Lebre, Eleonore and Corzo Remigio, Amelia (2024). Mining for the energy transition: a global dataset of local disclosures. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/9853667
Ang, Michelle Li Ern, Lebre, Eleonore, Kemp, Deanna, Lechner, Alex, Owen, John, Saputra, Muhamad Risqi U. and Witra, Tahjudil (2023). A Repository of global datasets for characterizing resource frontiers.. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/bf657d1
Micklethwaite, Steven, Verster, Lizette, Antonio, Christian, Ziemski, Marcin, Hilden, Marco, Ghoreishi-Madiseh, Ali, Kuyuk, Ali, Kalantari, Hossein, Sasmito, Agus, Hernandez-Santin, Lorna, Erskine, Peter, Cote, Claire, Lebre, Eleanor and Seligman, Benjamin (2022). Data relating to the Complex Orebodies Review of the Izok Lake Corridor Project (Izok-Dataroom-UQ). The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/9a95ed5
Owen, John R., Lebre, Eleonore and Kemp, Deanna (2022). Energy Transition Minerals (ETMs): A global dataset of projects. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/12b9a6e
Owen, John, Lèbre, Éleonore, Northcott, David, Harris, Jill, Huda., Mirza and Verrier, Brunilde (2019). Global mining induced displacement and resettlement (MIDR) events dataset.. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/uql.2019.764
Research Reports
Skrzypek, Emilka, Bainton, Nicholas, Burton, John and Lèbre, Eleonore (2022). The justice dimensions of extracting energy transition metals from the Pacific. London, United Kingdom: The British Academy. doi: 10.5871/just-transitions-s-i/e-s
Owen, John, Lebre, Eleonore and Kemp, Deanna (2022). A spatial overlay approach to analysing mining’s sustainability challenges: a methodological note. Brisbane, QLD Australia: The University of Queensland.
Owen, John, Kemp, Deanna, Valenta, Rick and Lebre, Eleonore (2021). CSRM Occasional Paper: ESG and the Future of Copper. Brisbane, QLD Australia: The University of Queensland.
Kung, Anthony, Kemp, Deanna, Owen, John, Johnston, Susan, Bainton, Nick, Harris, Jill and Lèbre, Éléonore (2021). Diagnostic review of the social performance function of an international mining company. Brisbane, Australia: Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland.
Everingham, Jo-Anne, Svobodova, Kamila, Lebre, Eleonore, Worden, Sandy and Owen, John (2020). Mining regions in transition - a global scan. Brisbane, Australia: Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining.
Owen, John, Kemp, Deanna, Lèbre, Eléonore and Kung, Anthony (2019). Screening social incidents in the global mining industry: a concept note. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland.
Newspaper Articles
Sharma, Vigya, Lebre, Eleonore and Loginova, Julia (2022, 03 15). Russia and Ukraine are important to the renewables transition. Here’s what that means for the climate The Conversation
Kemp, Deanna, Lebre, Eleonore, Owen, John and Valenta, Richard (2021, 04 12). Clean energy? The world’s demand for copper could be catastrophic for communities and environments The Conversation