The acceleration toward lowering carbon emissions to stem climate change is now high on the agenda of countries across the globe.
The exploration for renewable materials, according to a new World Bank report Minerals for Climate Action: The Mineral Intensity of the Clean Energy Transition is at an all-time high.
The report estimates the production of minerals such as graphite, lithium and cobalt could increase by nearly 500% by 2050 to meet the growing demand for clean energy technologies.
There may also be a considerable increase in demand for several key minerals and metals, including copper, to manufacture cleaner energy technologies. The World Bank believes over 3 billion tons of minerals and metals will be needed for renewable energy sources like wind, solar and geothermal power.
Of all the sectors that are anticipated to latch onto the renewable energy buzz, the transportation sector — including the production of electric vehicles (EVs) — is projected to have the biggest bite.
The sector will need more critical metals like copper as more EVs continue to roll off the assembly lines of manufacturers like Tesla Inc. TSLA, Lucid Group Inc. LCID and Nio Inc. — ADR NIO.
The global electric car market is growing exponentially. Worldwide sales will hit 6.6 million in 2021, almost doubling from the previous year. By 2027, an estimated 27 million electric vehicles will be on the road.
The numbers are expected to soar further, particularly in the U.S., following the Biden administration’s green infrastructure and clean energy plan, which was initially estimated at $3 trillion.
EVs And Copper
As one of the oldest metals known to humankind, copper has been a valuable contributor to various industries, including electronics, construction, machinery, transportation and consumer products.
Its value is being highlighted again as the world rides into a clean energy future. EVs use more than double the copper of an internal combustion engine automobile.
EVs’ batteries, windings and copper rotors used in electric motors, wiring and charging infrastructure all have copper in their composition. Below is the amount of copper by vehicle type:
- Internal combustion engine: 23 kilograms (kg) of copper
- Hybrid electric vehicle (HEV): 40 kg of copper
- Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV): 60 kg of copper
- Battery electric vehicle (BEV): 83 kg of copper
- Hybrid electric bus (Ebus HEV): 89 kg of copper
- Battery-powered electric bus (Ebus BEV): 224–369 kg of copper (depending on the size of the battery)
A Junior Company To Shore Up Supply To Meet Demand?
From all projections, including the rise of copper for EVs from 185,000 tons in 2017 to 1.74 million tons in 2027, the metal will be at the heart of the EV evolution.
Junior exploration companies like Max Resource Corp. MAX MXROF, could be in a position to win big and be more than ready to find the copper to meet demand.
Actively engaged in acquiring and exploring mineral properties in Colombia and Peru, the company reports that its recently discovered CESAR copper-silver property has real potential to be one of the largest copper-silver systems ever discovered.
The previously overlooked project sits along the Colombian portion of the world’s largest producing copper belt (Andean belt), with world-class mining infrastructure and the presence of global majors Glencore Glencore plc GLEN and Chevron Corp. CVX nearby.
The CESAR project lies on a massive sedimentary system covering a significant portion of the 200-kilometer-long Cesar Basin.
Read more about Max Resources CESAR Copper Silver and RT Gold projects at maxresource.com/?cesar and maxresource.com/?rt.
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