The Copper Bottleneck: More Rock for Less Metal

Electric vehicles require three to four times more copper than traditional internal combustion engines.

Chilean ore grades dropped from over one percent to zero point sixty-two percent since two thousand two.

Lower ore concentrations have increased the electricity intensity of copper mining by sixty-eight percent.

Global copper production is projected to peak at thirty-three million metric tons by twenty thirty.

The copper supply deficit by twenty forty will equal the output of the top three producing nations.

Recycling currently meets only thirty percent of global demand because infrastructure locks copper away for decades.