Copper added to list of US Critical Materials
Copper is officially becoming critical as the US Department of Energy (DoE) added the red metal to its Critical Materials List on 1st August as a response to global uncertainty of future copper supply.
While not fully critical at this point, Copper is identified as non-critical in the short term, becoming near-critical in the medium term (up to 2035) due to forecast increased demand for use in the manufacture of modern technology and as a response to projected copper shortages. The DoE follows the lead of the EU, China, India, Japan and Canada in adding copper as a critical material, and is the first US agency to do so.
“Aluminum, copper, and silicon become near critical in the medium term due to increased demand in solar energy technologies, global electrification, and vehicle lightweighting.”
The 2023 assessment evaluated various materials for their criticality to global supply chains for green energy and focussed on key materials and metals that were vulnerable to future supply disruption. The final list includes aluminum, cobalt, copper, dysprosium, electrical steel, fluorine, gallium, iridium, lithium, magnesium, natural graphite, neodymium, nickel, platinum, praseodymium, terbium, silicon, and silicon carbide.
This announcement supports the US Critical Minerals Strategy in recognising the United States’s dependance on imports of these materials critical to their manufacturing economy - it’s great to see additional policy being formed around the recognition of these minerals.
In comparison, the UK’s Critical Minerals Strategy is off to a slower start and sees substantially less investment and recognition of the criticality of these materials, something that might need to change if it wants to meet its target of an electrified motor economy by 2030.
Photograph of bundles of crimped cathode copper ready for transport. Photo via ChrisFountain via Wikimedia Commons
Clearly, governments around the world are waking up to the fact that once common materials such as copper metal will be scarcer in the future as demand increases and supply dwindles, and they should seek to move quickly to secure future supplies, as private copper-reliant companies have already begun to: In February of this year, car maker Stellantis (owners of Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Fiat, Maserati among other high-end brands) invested US$155m to secure a 14.2% stake in McEwan Mining Inc in order to secure its battery raw materials (Mugglehead, 2023); BMW group have already invested in novel methods of copper extraction and in lithium mining projects. These companies are vastly larger than most mining companies - in the future might we see automakers becoming primary raw materials producers to provide their own supply chain?
In the meantime, continue to prove the effectivenss of electric pulse fragmentation in mining applications: This novel method of metal recovery from ores can concentrate valuable materials into the fine fractions, leaving gangue coarse and easily rejected, and also has the ability to pre-weaken rocks reducing mill wear or increasing througput, both reducing CO2 footprint.
Get in touch with us today for a free consultation on how electric pulse fragmentation can save your organisation energy.
A PDF of the full DoE Critical Materials Assement can be found here.