A gold mine 235 km from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.

A gold mine located in the Kayseri province of south-central Turkey,

A gold mine located in central Finland.

A copper/gold operation in Alagoas estate in Brazil.

As the world increasingly turns towards reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and decarbonisation, the use of electric vehicles and stationary energy storage systems is expected to increase. The International Energy Agency estimates that nearly 10 000 GWh/y of batteries and other energy storage technologies will be required by 2040. As demand for batteries increases, so will demand for the metals and minerals that are needed to manufacture them; and with little or no inventory in the system and demand set to more than triple by 2025, buyers are seizing all they can. Meanwhile, battery metals producers are rushing to expand their operations and are evaluating new opportunities to keep pace with the surging demand for lithium, cobalt, copper, nickel, graphite, manganese, vanadium and some rare-earth metals. Creamer Media’s ‘Battery Metals 2021/22: Demand for battery metals surging’ report provides an overview of the battery metals market in this context. Globally, the focus of the report is on supply and demand and the creation of a sustainable battery value chain, while in Africa, the report’s focus shifts to some of the key mining projects under way.

A base metals mine in Brazil.

A coal mine in the Crowsnest Pass, in Canada.

A gold mine 95 km north of La Sarre, in Quebec, Canada.

A copper mine in South Australia, about 160 km north of Port Augusta.

A copper mine in Grawler Craton, in Australia.