Full Title: Elevating the Role of Critical Minerals for Development and Security
Author(s): Daniel F. Runde and Austin Hardman
Publisher(s): Center for Strategic & International Studies
Publication Date: September 29, 2023
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Over the next few decades, the role that copper and critical minerals play in achieving the energy transition, spurring economic development, and strengthening national security will continue to grow. The world is slowly shifting its energy mix to one that is greener, but this transition will require significant mining resources. This may seem counterintuitive, but many low-carbon technology components consist of key minerals and metals. According to the International Energy Agency, within 20 years, the energy sector’s demand for minerals may increase by as much as six times, and demand from the low-carbon energy generation sector will triple. One estimate by S&P Global suggests that more copper will need to be mined in the next few decades than has been extracted in the past several thousand years of human history.
Mining and the processing of minerals are also crucial in maintaining the military’s technological edge, securing manufacturing supply chains, and pursuing sustainable development practices. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has designated 50 critical minerals “essential to the economic and national security of the U.S.,” and the Department of Defense (DOD) has identified more than 250 “strategic and critical materials,” defined as those “those that support military and essential civilian industry.”
Mining will also become increasingly important for economic development. The top 40 mining companies had a combined revenue of $711 billion in 2022. The global mining market had a compound annual growth rate of 6.1 percent between 2022 and 2023, reaching $2.15 trillion, and is expected to grow to $2.78 trillion by 2027. In the United States alone, mining accounted for 1.9 percent of GDP and employed over half a million people.
In this regard, the Western Hemisphere is emerging as a key source of some of these minerals. With their considerable reserves of copper and other critical minerals such as lithium and nickel, countries in the Western Hemisphere have attracted significant investment in mining projects. Mining offers an opportunity for economic development, but the region needs to adjust policies to better steward these resources in order for the sector to continue to play a development role.