Zim stands to benefit from copper deposits
Zimbabwe has a chance to benefit from its huge copper deposits as the popularity of clean energy future continues to rise with Electric Vehicles (EVs) considered the future in the transport sector.
Rudairo Mapuranga
According to James Hyerczyk a mineral commodity expert in the United States, despite strong demand, copper supply is significantly lagging. And it’s only going to get worse with analysts forecasting copper demand potentially rising 350 per cent by 2050.
According to the Chamber of Mines Zimbabwe Chief Executive Officer Mr Isaac Kwesu, the country is currently generating nearly US$100 million from copper with some junior mining firms investing in copper exploration. He said that the country has the potential to benefit from copper price turnover and can become one of the major copper producers in Africa.
“We are equally blessed with copper endowments and currently we have a significant amount of copper coming out as a byproduct of PGMs. They have a significant amount, almost US$50 million and can reach up to US$100 million value of copper. We also have copper projects in areas surrounding Mhangura which were sub-economic during the low-price era with the high upturn, some of these projects are more certain that they will become viable. There is some exploration we understand is currently taking place implying that we will also be a major copper producer in the near future,“ Kwesu said.
The transfer to electric vehicles will not be possible without tons of new sources of copper because large amounts of copper are needed to build just one EV. In one conventional gas-powered car, 18 to 49 pounds of copper are needed to build one car, depending on engine size. However, in just one EV, a whopping 183 pounds of copper is needed to build one electric engine! That’s 4 to 10 times MORE copper.
With the soaring demand for EVs rising in the next decade, copper demand is also expected to explode. EVs are expected to increase 14X by 2030 from the 1.8 million EVs on the road in 2010 to over 25 million EVs by 2030. That’s over 23 million new EVs in operation this means if Zimbabwe takes the chance to mine copper it will benefit significantly from these developments.
Unlike lithium, which focuses mainly on clean batteries, copper’s importance to the green revolution goes way beyond building EV engines. In fact, copper plays an integral part in protecting the Electric Grid to Secure the Nation as copper is needed in virtually all stages of electric infrastructure – generation, transportation, distribution, and consumption.