Mike Fagan,
Editor
Sept. 8, 2023
The clean energy transition is in danger of stalling out due to scarcity of the world’s most critical “green metal” — copper!
Robert Edwards, copper analyst at CRU, says, “...there’s a narrative around resource scarcity and the green transition with EVs and renewables as well as the build-out of electricity grids. On paper it’s quite a substantial supply gap opening up over the next 10 years.”
Electrification is expected to increase annual copper demand to 36.6 million tonnes by 2031 — with supply forecast to be around 30.1 million tonnes — creating a 6.5 million tonne shortfall at the start of the next decade, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Co.
Filling that massive supply gap won’t be easy due to declining copper discoveries and a lack of new mine construction projects in the global pipeline.
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View ReportsAccording to Glencore CEO Gary Nagle, “Whatever was planned to be built has been built. There is nothing coming behind [the projects now ramping up into production].”
Plus, once a new copper discovery is made, it can take 10 years and oftentimes as long as 20 years for the metal to reach the supply chain.
When most people think of copper, they immediately jump to electrical wiring and plumbing for home and commercial construction.
Yet, what most people are missing is copper’s rapidly emerging role in the green energy transition — specifically in the areas of EVs, solar panels, wind turbines, and grid infrastructure.
That rapidly changing narrative means the world is going to need a lot more of the red metal in the coming years in order for the green energy transition to become a reality.
Think about this: In 2020, green uses of copper stood at just 4% of global copper consumption.
That figure is now projected to more than quadruple to 17% by 2030… less than 7 years from now!
We’re talking an additional 54% copper requirement over that same timeframe as the electrification-of-everything forges ahead.
Add to that, of the roughly 20 million tonnes of copper produced in 2020, more than half was from nations categorized as “Unstable” or “Extremely Unstable.”
Wood Mackenzie’s VP of Metals & Mining, Robin Griffin, states, “We’re already forecasting major deficits in copper to 2030,” attributing that sentiment largely to ongoing unrest in Peru and higher demand for copper in the energy transition industry.
Additionally, Chile — the world’s largest copper producer at 27% of global supply — recorded a year-on-year decline of 7% in November 2022. “Overall we believe Chile will likely produce less copper from 2023 to 2025,” according to Goldman Sachs (January 2023).
Those factors are placing increased reliance on future supply from places like Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo — not exactly the most stable places to be mining.
Yet, what about new copper extraction technologies that are emerging right here on North American soil?
What most people don’t realize is that there are millions, and perhaps billions of tonnes of lower-grade copper waste-rock just laying around mine sites across North America.
Turning those mountains of “throwaway” rock into sheets of refined copper could literally turn the global copper supply equation on its head and make well-positioned investors a ton of money in the process.
Fortunately, there is one little-known, small-cap copper firm with operations in the southwestern United States that’s doing just that.
The company is advancing a groundbreaking copper extraction methodology we’ve aptly dubbed “Blue Water.”
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View PublicationsNot only is the technology showing great promise… our own John Carl of Profit Cycle Pro and Gerardo Del Real of Junior Resource Monthly are back from a site visit where they were granted access to this potentially industry-changing extraction methodology.
They’ve even put together a feature-length video presentation on “Blue Water” and its incredible potential that you can view right here.
With copper demand set to soar over the coming few years in the green energy transition… it’s an exclusive presentation you simply do not want to miss.
PS: As promised, here’s our NEXT lithium stock winner… following Gerardo’s recent 10,900% life-changer!
Mike Fagan
Editor, Daily Profit Cycle