Friedland Sounds Alarm on Copper Supply Constraints Amid Growing Demand

Ivanhoe Mines founder and co-chairperson Robert Friedland has sounded the alarm on copper supply constraints, warning that global availability is not keeping pace with escalating consumption.

Friedland noted that copper demand is growing due to the expansion of data centers, electric vehicles, and a worldwide drive to reindustrialize. However, output has fallen behind, leading to climbing prices for the metal.

According to Friedland, at the current pace of global economic expansion, with eight billion people on the planet, sustaining 3% GDP growth would require extracting within the next 18 years the same amount of copper extracted over the previous 10,000 years - an outcome he considers unachievable.

Friedland also addressed the consequences of growing electrical demand spurred by expanded AI use, observing that such technologies consume large amounts of electrical energy and are copper-intensive. He emphasized that the industry cannot locate and responsibly extract the required copper using yesterday's technology due to global warming and high diesel prices.