Natural graphite and aluminium are the materials most commonly used across military applications and are also subject to considerable supply security risks.

Demand is being driven by strong central bank buying, with developing nations in particular stocking up on bullion as insurance.

Cheap Indonesian nickel, controlled by China and dumped on the market, has collapsed nickel prices and forced global mine closures.

Simply put, electrification doesn’t happen without copper, the heartbeat of the global energy economy.

Some think that technology will eventually find substitutes for metals. If only it were so easy.

One of the biggest challenges facing the mining industry is a growing skills gap created by an aging workforce and a dearth of talent waiting next in line.

Gold and silver have both held up quite well despite the Fed’s tightening cycle.

Increased demand for copper to a loosening of monetary conditions is one reason to be bullish.

When the International Copper Study Group met last October, it was expecting a market surplus of 155,000 tonnes in 2023. In May, the group changed that to a 114,000-tonne deficit.

Will the gold mining industry be able to produce, or discover, enough gold, so that it’s able to meet demand without having to recycle jewelry?

Copper and silver are often skipped over in discussions of metals needed for the green economy, with battery metals like lithium, graphite, cobalt and nickel hogging the limelight.

China took control of almost all rare earth element processing and magnet manufacturing, in the space of about 10 years.