Copper Supply Is Locked to Specific Tectonic Environments

The world's largest copper mines are not scattered randomly across the continents, but rather line up in narrow bands tracing something far older and more fundamental than any mining company's strategy or government mineral policy.

These bands matter more than ever as copper demand is climbing into a wall, with the International Energy Agency (IEA) projecting a structural primary copper supply deficit persisting through the 2030s under every major decarbonisation scenario.

The key to unlocking these deposits lies in understanding subduction zones, where two tectonic plates converge and one oceanic plate slides beneath a continental plate. This process sets in motion the entire chain that ends with copper in the ground.