A tale of two metals will determine the future of energy

THE world’s biggest miner BHP Group grew powerful by building dominant positions in producing the minerals of the future. That makes the challenges that it’s facing with two key clean-tech ingredients a sobering lesson for the energy transition.

Nickel and copper have long been recognised as vital components of a decarbonised economy. Nickel helps to cram energy into the lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and grid-scale power storage cells. Copper is used almost everywhere electricity flows – from wires, motors and turbines to heat exchangers and transformers.

Annual nickel supplies need to grow from about 3.4 million tonnes currently to more than 5 million tonnes in 2030 to keep the world on a path to net zero, according to the International Energy Agency. Copper must go from 25 million tonnes to 35 million tonnes. Ideally, we should be seeing supply of both metals expanding at a rapid clip, with the emphasis most strongly on copper, where miners produce about 10 metric tonnes for every tonne of nickel.