It says the move towards cleaner energy is creating a demand for critical minerals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt for energy transmission, as well as silicon, uranium and rare earth elements for solar, wind and nuclear energy generation.
“If you look at energy generation from fossil or wind versus natural gas, you’re talking about 15 times more, so there is a massive need for metals. The key here for us is if we don’t get investment into critical minerals in the future, the energy transition will be held back.” Market capitalisation for critical miners outperformed the average market capitalisations of the top 40 mining companies by between 49% and 147%, while the value of deals concluded by these miners tripled.READ: It is estimated that the annual demand for clean energy technologies will reach over $400 billion in 30 years.
Even though coal has generated massive incomes, it will likely be replaced by critical minerals in 30 years as they are expected to grow at a phenomenal pace. South Africa is positioning itself to take advantage of the transition to a low-carbon economy.