Many years ago, there was a TV advertisement shot in the kitchen of a family home. All was well until the oven disappeared, then the refrigerator and the kettle. Then the cutlery from the table vanished and the steel table legs with them. Everything metal was removed one by one until the kitchen was in shambles. This was how the value of the products of mining was communicated back to the audience.
Today, many of the products of mining are less obvious. It is the copper in the wire that runs from the Earth to the top of the wind turbine, the lithium in the electric vehicle battery and the silicon in solar panels. So-called ‘critical minerals’ are gaining recognition as essential for the energy transition, but how we talk about those minerals and the mining that unearths them must evolve.
Acknowledging the pivotal role of the mining industry in the energy transition is paramount to ensuring a seamless and effective shift towards sustainable practices. The mining sector provides the essential raw materials indispensable for the production of renewable energy technologies, electric vehicles and energy storage systems.
Alkemy Capital Investments plc (LON:ALK) is focussed on developing projects in the energy transition metals sector. Tees Valley Lithium is developing a state of the art lithium hydroxide plant at Teesside, UK. Tees Valley Graphite is developing the UK’s first natural graphite active anode material processing facility at the ‘plug-and-play’ Wilton International Chemicals Park.
