The world needs critical minerals and Australia has them, but consumers don't want a 'dirty' electric car or cheap labour in their solar panels.
As the worldwide push for electrification intensifies, requirements for sustainable production are also in a race to the top.
The Global Battery Alliance, a collaboration between public and private enterprise, wants to shake up the supply change.
It is working on a traffic-light rating system that would prove an individual battery's source - from specific mine sites to processing, manufacturing and delivery to the car yard.
There should also be a way to get bonus points for wins on biodiversity and community, alliance deputy chair Stephen D'Esposito told an international mining conference on Wednesday.
BHP chief technical officer Laura Tyler said the world was starting to wake up to the role of the resources sector in supporting global trends that were changing the world.
But in the decades ahead what remains will be trickier to find, more difficult to mine or located in more challenging areas, she warned the World Mining Congress in Brisbane.
"We have to produce those commodities in those locations with less - less energy, less water, less waste, less disruption - a fraction of the impacts traditionally caused by intensive mining activity," she said.
Ms Tyler said power could have zero greenhouse gas emissions with nuclear energy part of the baseload mix.
Martin Perez de Solay, CEO of rapidly growing producer Allkem, said lithium would not exist as a business without the global commitment to act on climate change.
But without high environmental, social and governance standards as mining expands, the world won't mitigate climate risks.
"No one wants a 'sustainable' electric vehicle made from unsustainable minerals," Mr Perez de Solay said.
Investors also need to trust operators who use their capital for an important and aggressive pipeline of projects.
Rio Tinto spruiked its climate and cultural credentials, pledging to drive change at every level of its business.
The company blew up the 46,000-year-old Juukan caves in 2020, devastating West Australian traditional custodians and causing global outrage.
It had legal permission to destroy the sacred site but later conceded it breached the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura peoples' trust in doing so.
Tim Gerrard, a portfolio manager at Janus Henderson Investors, said companies needed to keep their community relationships up to date and not rely on historical pacts.
"In the case of the Juukan caves, there was no real relationship any more with the First Nations people, and Rio paid the price for that," he said.
For smaller mines trying to meet high standards, he said to start with the basics - the safety and health of the workforce.
More than 3500 delegates from 70 countries have come to Brisbane to drill into the future of mining, and enjoy the latest gadgets in the vast exhibition hall.
CSIRO has its search and rescue robots including Chilli, named after Bluey and Bingo's mum in the TV show, which is equipped with eight cameras.
Nearby is a giant Sandvik electro-hydraulic top hammer long hole drill, which also comes in an electric version for the climate-savvy operator.
Thiess and Caterpillar have a live demonstration with two operators on hand to drive semi-autonomous dozers at a mine more than 800 kilometres away.
At Gudai-Darri, Rio's iron ore mine in the Pilbara, the company is working with Caterpillar on a fleet of autonomous, zero-emissions haul trucks as companies try to end their diesel dependence.
"Gudai-Darri could be the first mine in the world to use them," said Sinead Kaufman, Rio Tinto's chief executive of minerals.
