New Mineral Demand Driven by the Shift to a Low-Carbon Society
The world is right now going through a renewed industrial revolution that is catalyzed by emerging technologies and the growing need to power modern society with clean, low-carbon energy sources. As with the first industrial revolution, where metals such as iron provided the material for new technologies, minerals and metals are critical to the changing technologies of today, particularly those minerals and metals that support clean and renewable energy. While most of us working in the mineral exploration and mining industry have long been aware of the importance of minerals and metals to society, the significance of metals to a low-carbon future has only recently been emphasized to the public and the world’s governments.
The 2017 release of the World Bank report on ‘The Growing Role of Minerals and Metals for a Low Carbon Future’ and the 2017 Clean Energy Canada report on ‘Mining for Clean Energy’ are partly to thank for this. These reports emphasize that clean energy technologies, such as electric vehicles, solar and wind, and related battery storage will all require substantial amounts of minerals and metals and, in some cases significantly more, than is needed for traditional energy and transportation systems.
The amount and type of minerals and metals that will be needed depends on which clean energy technologies and transmission modes are adopted and how aggressive society is at curbing global temperature increases. Modelling outlined in the World Bank report, that draws upon scenarios developed by the International Energy Agency, suggests that metals needed for electric battery storage, such as aluminum, cobalt, iron, lead, lithium, manganese, and nickel could grow in demand by more than 1,000 per cent under a scenario where long-term global temperature increases are kept to four degrees Celsius. The Paris Agreement’s goal is to keep global temperature increases this century to below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Reaching this target will call for even more minerals and metals to support the development of the required clean energy technologies.
In British Columbia, the provincial government recently announced that it plans to introduce legislation, which will require all new light-duty cars and trucks to be zero-emission vehicles by the year 2040. An expanded network of charging stations will also be needed to support this mandate. This is just one example of policy changes that will drive mineral and metal demand in the very near future. For context, current electric vehicle technology can require more than 80 kilograms of copper per vehicle compared with 20 kilograms or less in a conventional internal combustion engine vehicle; not to mention the metals required for the batteries and to service the network of charging stations.
It is a good thing then that British Columbia is a significant producer of copper today, given the anticipated needs for this metal. But what about the future? The sustainable development of our mineral resources, such as copper, will only become more imperative in the future. The mineral exploration industry will need to continue exploring for new mineral resources and to shift strategies, leveraging new, innovative technologies that will help to locate and extract the minerals and metals of tomorrow. There will also be a need for governments to explore how policy shifts, such as requiring zero-emission vehicles, will impact metal demand and the source of those metals. The goal is to ensure that a solution in one jurisdiction does not become a problem in another.
Looking forward, Canada is well positioned to provide many of the metals needed for new low-carbon technologies and our government policies and industry practices already make us a world leader in the sustainable development of these resources. We need to continue on the pathway of improving our environmental and social performance, but we also need to ensure we can get new mines constructed to account for this growing demand. Ultimately, industry, governments, and communities across British Columbia and Canada will need to work together so that we can produce the raw materials that will support the current and future needs of our society and a sustainable future.
AME Roundup 2019
These are just some of the pertinent discussions that will take place at the Mineral Exploration Roundup conference in Vancouver, British Columbia later this month, from January 28 to 31, 2019. The annual industry event, centred around the theme of ‘Elements for Discovery’, will examine the future of copper exploration and mining in the province of British Columbia, explore new innovative technologies, engage with governments, Indigenous leaders, and communities, and help to reinforce the role of minerals and metals in the emerging low-carbon economy. These topics are all important to ensure that the mineral exploration and mining industry will be a key driver of this new industrial revolution. More information on Roundup 2019, including programming and registration, is available at https://roundup.amebc.ca/.
About this Author
Rob Stevens joined the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia as the Vice President, Regulatory and Technical Policy in August, 2018. Rob brings a diversity of experience to AME from his time in industry, academia, associations and government. He is a professional geologist who was most recently the Director of Partnerships and Learning at the Canadian International Resources and Development Institute (CIRDI). At CIRDI, Rob worked with developing country governments to support policy development and technical capacity building around the sustainable management of mineral resources, including areas such as mine closure and environmental impact assessment.