When you check your phone, turn on your kitchen tap or drive your car to work, you’re using copper, a crucial mineral found in all these devices.

Copper is also a necessity for renewable energy construction — think electric cars, solar panels, and wind turbines.

Yet the world is headed towards a global copper shortage, and an expert says Australia could play a role in meeting the rising demand.

Is Australia’s copper globally significant?

According to the World Economic Forum, Australia produces 4 per cent of the international copper supply and is the sixth largest producer in the world.

Copper weighing more than 17 Sydney Harbour Bridges, or 0.9 million tonnes, is produced by Australia per year.

Director of the Sustainable Minerals Institute at the University of Queensland (UQ) Rick Valenta said the Australian industry, particularly in North West Queensland and South Australia, could significantly contribute to meeting the expected supply gap for copper. 

“And more importantly, cementing its position as a responsible and reliable supplier of copper concentrates, refined metals, and ideally, downstream products into the future,” Professor Valenta said.

He said the future relied on copper production, so industry growth was needed to combat falling supply, including within the Australian mining industry.

Creeping copper demand

Professor Valenta said while there would be no global copper shortage in the immediate future, long-term supply was uncertain.

This has critical implications for the renewable energy sector — for which copper is essential — and he said the international market might enter a deficit by 2028.

That is more copper than has ever been produced.

Outback potential

Professor Valenta said North West Queensland could contribute to Australia’s role in reducing the international copper shortage.

Although the closure of the third-largest copper mine, Glencore’s Mount Isa Copper Operation (MICO), looms in the near future, he said the industry would survive in the region.

Within 200 kilometres of the site, there are nearly 7 million tonnes of copper metal and 28 projects pending production.

Professor Valenta said a conservative but realistic estimate would be that 60 per cent of the copper would be mined, representing another 20 years of production.

While these developments are good news for the industry, he said there was a disparity between those who reaped the benefits, and those who lived and worked in mining regions.

“People who live in big cities with lighting and infrastructure are the main beneficiaries of mining copper and critical metals for the energy transition,” he said.

“But the people who are bearing the burden of that production, who are at the front lines of actually getting that material out, are in regions in some of the most economically disadvantaged parts of our country.”

Global industry eyeing off Queensland

North West Queensland’s rich mining potential has also attracted international interest.

British Deputy Consul General for Queensland and the Northern Territory Lucy Monaghan says the potential for the region’s decarbonisation plans aligns with the UK’s net zero ambitions.

“I feel like Australia, and particularly perhaps this part of Australia, is in a really exciting position to be able to really take full advantage of [international supply chains].”