Mining Can't Keep Up: The Multi-Billion-Dollar Opportunity In Recycled Minerals

A Forbes contributor who runs a recycling-focused investment firm argues that global mining cannot keep pace with demand for copper and silver, citing projections that the next 18 years will require as much copper as all of recorded history and noting silver is in its fifth consecutive annual deficit. New mines take roughly 16 years to reach production, and ore quality at existing sites is declining, the piece notes, citing rare-earth export restrictions that recently disrupted automotive production lines.

The proposed fix is circular economies: Asia reportedly discards $91 billion in unrecovered metals annually, with only 12 percent of its electronic waste formally recycled, versus far higher metal concentrations in circuit-board waste than in raw ore. The author calls for connecting local recyclers to global supply chains, upgrading their technology, and citing government initiatives like the Quad Critical Minerals program as validation.

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