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Table 10 Rising Global Demand for Metals

From: Reducing disease and death from Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) - the urgent need for responsible mining in the context of growing global demand for minerals and metals for climate change mitigation

Climate change mitigation increases the demand for metals used for low-carbon-technologies such as aluminum, chromium, cobalt, copper, graphite, indium, iron, lead, lithium, manganese, molybdenum, neodymium, nickel, silver, titanium, vanadium and zinc [84]. Solar cells, wind turbines, high-efficiency storage batteries, and electric vehicles are currently essential for the transition to a low-carbon economy [85]. The larger part of the minerals is mined using conventional methods, nevertheless the increased demand of such minerals will increase the ASM activities in the sector likewise, as, for example cobalt [86]. The World Bank projects that renewable energy systems will require significantly more minerals and metals than current fossil-fuel-based energy supply systems and that global demand for minerals and metals will continue to increase for many decades [49, 84]. One critical factor in this increase is the impact of climate change. By 2050, mineral production will need to meet rapidly growing demand for low-carbon energy technology such as solar and wind power, e-vehicles, and the batteries needed to store energy for “green” energy alternatives [49]: “Under a 2-degree scenario production of graphite, lithium, and cobalt will need to be significantly ramped up by more than 450% by 2050—from 2018 levels—to meet demand from energy storage technologies” Few can predict the impact of a 450% increase in cobalt demand on the Democratic Republic of Congo, which holds roughly half of the world’s cobalt reserves, and where 15–30% is produced via ASM [47,48,49]. Nevertheless, novel technologies to foster low-carbon technologies are on the rise, which may require a reduced amount of these critical minerals or use recycled material. The World Bank estimates the recycled content rate for cobalt at 32%. This proportion is projected to stay constant until 2050 [49].