Reports of imminent catastrophe tend to get far more attention than hard statistics about the real world, so here’s a datapoint to keep in mind. Between 2010 and 2020 we mined 207 million tonnes of copper around the world, but far from falling, the total global reserves of copper grew by 240 million tonnes. Ponder that for a moment. Humankind is managing to increase our accessible supplies of this vital material at a rate that comfortably outpaces our actual exploitation of it.
