The Hunger of the Machines

It’s easy to say “AI needs copper.” It’s harder to quantify it. We ran the numbers based on current efficiency rates and projected buildouts.

The EV Equation

• ICE Car (Gas): ~20 kg of copper.
• BEV (Battery Electric): ~80 kg of copper.
• Hybrid: ~40 kg of copper.
• The Delta: If 50% of global sales are EVs by 2030, that’s an additional 2.5 Million Tonnes of annual copper demand just from cars. That’s equal to 2.5 “Escondida” mines (the world’s largest mine). We don’t have 2.5 Escondidas.

The AI Power Drain

Data centers are becoming small cities.

• Power Cables: High-voltage transmission to get power to the server farm.
• Inside the Rack: Specialized copper interconnects (replacing some fiber due to cost/latency).
• Cooling: Liquid cooling systems for high-performance chips use copper piping.

Projection: By 2030, AI-related copper demand could reach 1 Million Tonnes annually.

Conclusion

We need to “find” an extra 3-4 Million Tonnes of annual supply just to feed these huge technologies. Recycling helps, but it won’t be enough. Prices have to rise to incentivize lower-grade mining.