Is mining still relevant?

Just like last year, a considerable focus during the Raw Materials Week for the discussions and future projects was on the circular economy and recycling. Even though recycling is absolutely crucial for a more sustainable society, it is not a conclusive solution for the future demand of raw materials. Aside from economic growth and changing technologies, the expected growth of consuming middle-class households is driving substantial increases in new raw materials demand.

The EIP on Raw Materials, a body of the European Commission, provided an interesting table in their latest publication, the Raw Materials Scoreboard 2018. The table includes all known end-of-life recycling input rates (EOL-RIR). These indicator measures are defined as: for a given raw material, how much of its input into the production system comes from recycling of end-of-life products, “old scrap”. The EOL-RIR does not take into account scrap that originates from manufacturing processes (“new scrap”).

They are, from a raw materials supply point of view, more useful compared to the better-known end-of-life recycling rates (EOL-RR), the percentage of a discarded material that is recycled.

The element with the highest recycling input rate is lead, mainly due to the fact that lead is mainly used in batteries, which have a high collection rate and a relatively straightforward recycling process requiring significantly less energy than primary production. Furthermore, unlike most materials lead can be recycled indefinitely without any loss of quality.

In shear contrast to lead, current recycling input rates of lithium, nickel and cobalt are 0%, 34% and 35%. These values are much lower because demand for these materials is higher than ever and many of the first generation lithium batteries are still in use. Moreover, the recycling process is significantly more complicated.

Many other elements critical to renewable energy production suffer from an even lower or negligible recycling input rate such as: germanium (Ge), indium (In) and tellurium (Te) which are used in PV panels, as well as neodymium (Nd) and dysprosium (Dy) which are used in the permanent magnets of wind turbines and EV’s.

In conclusion, in order for the transition to renewable energy to succeed, mining of primary raw materials, and therefore exploration, remains absolutely necessary.