The world needs more critical minerals. Governments are not helping

Mining companies have always mattered. Without the iron ore and copper they unearth, there would be no steel to build with and no wiring to carry electric power. Today miners have an extra responsibility. If the world is to decarbonise, it will need 6.5bn tonnes of metals between now and 2050, according to the Energy Transitions Committee, a think-tank—and not just lithium, cobalt and nickel, the much-talked-about battery metals, but steel, copper and aluminium, too. Because that output is several times greater than today’s capacity, producing it will require miners to invest more and dig faster.