Video News/Green Rush

The amount of copper required for electrification purposes over the next three decades is astronomical, says Matt Watson, founder of Precious Metals Commodity Management LLC. On April 10, Watson recorded an episode of Green Rush with guest Bart Melek, global head of commodity strategy at TD Securities. The topic was copper, the electrification metal. Watson pulled up a chart showing the total demand for copper — the most highly conductive metal besides silver. In a base case emissions scenario, copper demand will rise to over 50 million tonnes a year by 2050. For context, humankind has mined 620 million tonnes of copper to date, and the mining industry currently produces about 22 million tonnes a year.