‘Without better coordination, there is a threat of mineral shortage for electrical appliances’

A group of international scientists argues that a lack of proper coordination in global mineral production and distribution will lead to a shortage of essential minerals in the future, for example for electrical appliances such as smartphones and laptops.

The scientists have mapped data on the demand for minerals and the expected mineral production for the coming decades. This shows that mining activities and exploration cannot keep up with increasing future demand. Recycling used minerals is also insufficient to counteract the shortage. This is what the scientists say in an article in the journal Nature.

Demand will increase sharply in the coming decades because in many countries there will be a switch to a society that produces little carbon dioxide. To achieve this, a lot of metals and minerals are needed to develop the necessary clean technology. This concerns, for example, metals such as neodymium, terbium and iridium.

The scientists therefore argue for better international coordination with regard to mineral production and distribution, looking at where investments are needed for the search for new mining locations and which types of minerals can be found in which places.

According to lead researcher Saleem Ali, international treaties should also be looked at. “There are treaties on climate change, biodiversity and waste management of organic chemicals, but there is no international mechanism that provides a framework for coordinating mineral distribution,” Ali said.

It is also problematic, according to the lead researcher, that many precious minerals such as copper are usually found in countries where the management and supervision of the authorities is not sufficient. This poses a risk to the increasing demand for the minerals. But the production of these countries is crucial to meet global demand, according to Ali.

Another issue is the time it takes to actually mine a resource of rare minerals after discovery and exploration. This takes between ten and fifteen years. The last major copper source was discovered fifteen years ago in Mongolia. Copper production here only started in 2016, which means that the demand is now much greater than the distribution capacity.