I stumbled upon an article the other day that may be of some interest to all of you, but especially to my friends in #silvergoldstackers. This:
Forget about rare earth minerals. We need more copper
It seems, according to the article, that demand for copper has surged these past few years, with the price up almost 75% since 2020. Copper mines in Chile, Peru, and the Republic of the Congo are struggling to meet demand, and experts are warning that this shortage could be a major concern.
Copper is more important than you might think. The circuit boards in your computers and phones as well as other electronic components need copper to function. Nearly 90% of circuit boards is copper. Without it, none of these computers we as a planet have become addicted to work.
In addition, EV cars use more copper than gas-powered ones, meaning as the world slowly switches over, demand for copper will only go up.
It gets worse. Not only are there not enough copper mines in the world, but experts say the existing mines have no more high-grade copper and that as a result they will need to increasingly go after lower-grade copper, meaning less total copper produced.
China did open a new mine last year (after 16 years of delays), so that's something. The US is planning on a few new mines in Arizona and Minnesota, but these are running into delays and legal challenges. Whew
Well, anyway, go read the full article. Once again: Forget about rare earth minerals. We need more copper
What's this mean for us? Well, hold on to your pennies—well, at least the pennies before 1982 when they were mostly copper—or the lowest value coins in your country, which are likely copper at least in part or used to be.
If the price of copper goes up, those pennies may actually be worth a decent amount!
| David is an American teacher and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Mastodon. |
