Critical materials (also referred to as critical minerals) – such as cobalt, chromium, copper, graphite, lithium, silver and others – are essential for the needs of the energy transition, because they are increasingly used in the production of clean energy technologies, namely solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and electric cars. Having access to and ensuring supply of critical materials are among the key drivers of technological innovation, as China’s clean energy manufacturing boom demonstrates.
Critical materials markets are characterized by complex geography and a complicated market structure of extraction, processing and the intermediate and final use of metals. This complexity requires the availability of quality data – but most mineral supply markets remain highly opaque due to limited information. This is a serious bottleneck that is already disrupting mineral supply chains and poses a risk to the ongoing energy transition.
tl;dr “There’s money in the ground and we want it”
