Venture activity also surges, but regulatory and integration challenges threaten timely scale-up. Demand for copper is projected to reach unprecedented levels, as copper is a key component of the energy transition. As the world races to electrify several sectors, including transport, as well as expand the adoption of renewables, coupled … [continued]
The April 2025 paper by Cathles and colleagues in SEG Discovery, Copper: Mining, Development, and Electrification, examining global copper supply constraints in the context of electrification and renewable energy, is rapidly becoming influential in industry and policy circles. It is important to closely scrutinize its assertions and underlying assumptions, as … [continued]
The electric vehicle revolution is genuinely in full swing, with almost one out of every 4 new vehicles having a plug in 2024. The core element of that revolution is the batteries, and the essence of those batteries is a handful of metals. So, the most critical conundrum is how … [continued]
Late in 2024 I had the privilege of sitting down with one of the world’s leading experts on critical minerals, Gavin Mudd, director of the centre for critical minerals intelligence at the British Geological Survey. The second half of the conversation included a great deal on why we’re both optimistic … [continued]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Targets for 100 percent electric vehicle adoption by 2035 cannot be achieved without an unprecedented acceleration in copper mining, according to the Secretary General of the International Energy Forum Joseph McMonigle. Copper is the most essential mineral for societal development, but growing electrification needs globally cannot … [continued]
Aluminum is an example of a material that has seen rapid growth in demand in recent years, and that demand has been met by expanded primary production. Aluminum has a density of 2.7 kg/dm3 at room temperature, which is about one-third of the density of iron and steel. With proper … [continued]
These Four Teams are Building a Better Copper (or Trying to Replace It) to Supercharge the Future of Energy For more than a century, copper has been the key material in electrical devices and wires, transporting electrons from sockets to smartphones and from batteries to electric vehicle motors. Copper dominated … [continued]
With all the talk about batteries and the materials that are needed to produce them, my thoughts turned to the Australian mining industry and its capacity to fulfill that need and thus power the electric vehicles of the rEVolution. We are already the largest exporter of lithium in the world … [continued]
Australian miners are global companies that are leading the search for critical minerals and materials to enable the green industrial revolution. At a local level, Queensland is encouraging miners to prepare for the time when coal is no longer their main product. But there is also a lot of movement … [continued]
Rethink Energy recently produced a report, available for purchase here, that analyzes the surge in battery raw material demand in the near future. The answer to the question “Can the mining industry keep up?” is a qualified “yes.” It may be a bumpy road with supply constraints affecting the commodity … [continued]
