, Columnist
We’re Not Even Close to Running Out of Green Minerals
Far from being a prophecy of doom, predictions of catastrophic shortfalls forced the market to behave exactly as it should.
Mineral reserves surge.
Photographer: Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
For those betting against the world’s ability to kick its carbon addiction, the commodities boom of the past few years has provided fresh ammunition.
Tesla Inc.’s Model 3 contained 4.5 kilograms of cobalt in its power pack in 2018, materials analyst Benchmark Minerals Intelligence estimated at the time. Scale that up to the 7.8 million electric vehicles sold last year — 10% of the global market — and then project forward into a future where that share rises toward 100%, and you can quickly see the world running into a supply problem.