Cu · Strategic base metal·← Metals

Copper.
The metal of the energy transition.

Second-highest electrical conductivity. Ductile, corrosion-resistant, infinitely recyclable. The energy transition depends on copper more than on any other base metal: electrical grids, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar plants consume growing volumes. An EV uses 2.5 to 4 times more copper than a combustion car.

2963.55

Cuprum · Copper

Properties

Atomic and physical data.

Atomic number29

Atomic mass63.55u

Density8.96g/cm³

Melting point1085°C

Electrical conductivity59.6MS/m

Mohs hardness3.0

Crustal abundance~60ppm

Group11 · d-block

Second-highest electrical conductivity in the periodic table (behind only silver). Sources: IUPAC, USGS, International Copper Association.

Industrial uses

What copper is used for, today — and tomorrow.

Structural demand in expansion. IEA projects copper consumption will double by 2040 in net-zero scenario.

~45% of demand

Electrical transmission and distribution

Cables, wires, transformers, motors. Global grid expansion is the main demand lever — denser grids, more low-voltage branches for decentralized loads.

Rising segment

Electric vehicles

A typical EV uses 60–85 kg of copper vs. 20–25 kg in a combustion car. Batteries, electric motors, wiring harnesses, charging stations. Multiplies the demand curve.

Renewable energy

Solar, wind, storage

Offshore wind turbines use 8–10 tons of copper per MW. Solar plants, 4–5 ton/MW. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) scale consumption by MWh.

Infrastructure

Construction

Plumbing, building electrical wiring, roofing, cladding. Relevant market in urbanizing economies and infrastructure replacement.

Data centers

IT and telecom

Servers, racks, cooling, busbars, 5G networks. Generative AI multiplies data center demand — each hyperscale campus consumes tons of copper in infrastructure.

Chemical-industrial

Alloys and catalysis

Bronze, brass, cupronickel. Fine chemistry catalysts. Antimicrobial applications on hospital surfaces and high-traffic environments.

Why it's in tailings

Falling grades, production crisis.

Copper faces a structural paradox: demand will double in 15 years, but average grades of operating mines fell from ~1.5% to ~0.6% in three decades. Opening new pits faces growing environmental and social barriers, and large greenfield projects take over a decade from discovery to first concentrate.

Meanwhile, accumulated copper tailings — especially from old porphyry and polymetallic operations — carry residual grades approaching today's active mine grades. Conventional flotation leaves 25% to 40% of copper in tailings, and operations before the column-flotation era lost an even greater proportion.

Green Mining angle

Copper is the metal where the math of the energy transition meets the math of tailings.

Green Mining processes polymetallic copper tailings — often with molybdenum, gold, silver co-products — recovering metal in assets already within mining companies' operational perimeter. No new pit, no new licensing, no dam expansion. The energy transition's copper demand has no faster route than unlocking accumulated tailings with modern technology.

See the technology in detail

Next step

If the energy transition moves you, copper moves you.

Copper tailings owner

Old porphyry, polymetallic, gold–copper.

Residual grade may be enough to enable recovery with modern technology — let's assess.

Submit asset

Energy transition investor

Copper without a new pit.

Additional copper output with lower environmental footprint, lower relative CAPEX, and significantly shorter timeline than greenfield projects.

Information for investors

Copper.The metal of the energy transition.