Minerals for our future

Technology Metals

Our growing need for new technology imposes extraordinary demands for minerals extracted from the earth. Almost everything today is either made from minerals or reliant on mineral production: electric vehicles, whitegoods, laptops, healthcare and medicine.

More than 60 different metals are required to make a smartphone including gold, copper, aluminium, silver, zinc and lead. Rare earths provide smartphones with their functionality, to vibrate or even to generate the colour display. [1]

Metals are critical to providing essential medical technologies. Copper is found in MRI scanners and is vital in medical equipment due to its anti-microbial properties. Titanium is used for surgical equipment due to its bacterial resistance; and silver is present in some antibiotics for accelerating the healing process. [2]

Energy

Metals and Minerals are essential to low-carbon technologies.

• The website, Mining Global, states that minerals such as Lithium ‘… is one of the most popular metals used in today’s modern life. In fact, with the rise in electric vehicle manufacture, the global consumption of lithium has more than doubled since 2012’. [3]
  
• By 2023 Global wind power capacity is expected to grow by 60 percent. Wind Power is made up of metals such as iron ore and copper, and in some turbines rare metals such as neodymium and dysprosium. [4][5]
• By 2023 renewable energy capacity will grow by 70%, led by solar photovoltaic, which uses metals such as copper, silver, tin and lead. [4][5]

World Bank Project

In February 2019, The World Bank outlined its initiative on ​‘Climate Smart Mining’, concerned with ensuring ​‘developing countries adopt mining practices that minimize carbon and material footprints’.

Read more on The World Bank’s ​‘Climate Smart Mining: Minerals for Climate Action’ initiative.