The electric vehicle revolution could turbo-charge mining

The electric vehicle revolution is happening and its impact is likely to be felt faster than expected,” Glencore chief executive Ivan Glasenberg says.

Glasenberg, whose empire encompasses copper and cobalt deposits, is keenly aware of the impact this revolution will have on the mining industry, The Telegraph reports.

“Governments are mandating increasingly aggressive emission targets that can only be met by alternative forms of mobility,” he says.

Glencore is not alone in wanting to be ahead of the curve when it comes to electric vehicles (EVs).
The fast-growing interest in electric vehicles has been driven by the Paris climate change agreement in 2015, and by China, the world’s largest consumer of metals, which is “emerging as the global leader in electric vehicles”, Glasenberg says.

The dire pollution in China’s cities is an obvious reason for its interest in developing low or zero-emission vehicles.

David Jollie, analyst at Anglo American, says China has an economic imperative too.
“It’s not just an environmental issue. From an economic point of view, they are trying to grow an industry as much as anything else.” He points to “significant financial incentives” from the Chinese government to encourage EV development.

With the number of electric vehicles on the world’s roads forecast to rise from around a million today to 140 million by 2035, mining companies are scrambling to ensure they can provide the raw materials the industry needs.
For the mining industry, “the implications of the transition to a green economy are prodigious”, according to Paul Gait, analyst at Bernstein. He ranks copper, nickel and cobalt as the biggest winners, weighing up the likely demand for these minerals in the batteries that will power cars of the future, and the difficulty in increasing their supply.