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Technology Metals
Technology metals are key to low-carbon future
"a true driver for sustainable dev."
Clean energy solutions are closely related to the survival of the future generations. Tech metals, such as Lithium, platinum group metals (PGM), rare earth elements (REE), and Niobium are strongly related to clean techs & sustainable dev. Most of these elements can face supply shortages in the coming years due to scarcity, uneven geo distribution, geopolitical issues, and trade policies putting populations at risk. Copper, aluminum, nickel, cobalt & manganese are also key for clean energy & tech supply chains.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is a key global ref. for data on tech & critical metals, providing authoritative info on production, reserves, and long-term supply trends. This section is based on USGS data (USGS, 2025), complemented by IEA, IRENA, and specialized market intelligence reports.
Figure 1 shows metals demand for cleantech assets.
​Lithium
Lithium reigns in the energy storage landscape. Despite of supply constraints, its high energy density and lightness is key to powering devices such as cell phones (7 billion+ in use today) & notebooks, and to make mobility sustainable w/ electric vehicles (EVs). A brief overlook of the Lithium supply chain is here.
Platinum group
Today, PGM demand is driven by the automotive industry, taking advantage of the catalytic properties of its six metal elements (Platinum, Palladium, Rhodium, Ruthenium, Osmium, Iridium). Tomorrow, the demand will be driven by the green hydrogen industry, that requires PGM-based catalysts for fuel-cells and PEM electrolyzers. Total worldwide reserves of PGM are estimated to be around 70,000 tons, with about 90% being located in South Africa [Statista, 2022]. See a brief overview of PGM here.
Rare earths
Rare earth elements (REE) consist of a set of 17 chemical elements that occur together in the periodic table, including Yttrium, 15 elements in the row labelled “Lanthanides” (atomic number 57 thru 71), and Scandium, considered by many as a REE. In fact, these soft heavy metals, essential for worldwide economy and green political agenda, are not that rare, as they occur in a broad range of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. But, economically exploitable REE ore deposits are sparse ("rare").
REE allow the construction of permanent magnets (most powerful: Nd2Fe14B, a Neodymium-Iron-Boron alloy) used in wind turbines and traction motors for hybrids & EVs. Catalysts (for oil refineries), electronic products (smartphones, TVs, laptops), lasers, and high-performance fiber optics also use REE.
Yttrium is widely used in metallurgy, ceramics, and phosphors. Taking advantage of its lightweight (it is the lightest REE) & high melting point (1,500+ °C), Scandium is used as an alloying element in aluminum to reduce the weight in the transport industry, from bikes & scooters to airplanes & spacecrafts. Figure 2 shows global annual production of important critical tech metals.
Ref.: Mckinsey & Company, 2022
Figure 1: Metal demand for cleantech
Figure 1: Global annual production of important critical tech metals
Leaving in a metal world
The intensity of exploitation of a country's mineral resources is a key indicator of its socio-economic development, as it measures the availability of these assets to meet society's demands. An individual consumes, directly or indirectly, about 10 tons per year of products from mineral materials (metallic and non-metallic), covering more than 300 distinct mineral species [Instituto Minere, 2019]. The world’s material consumption has grown significantly over the last few decades, with growing economies and cities demanding more resources.
Indispensable to nations due to its low price and hardness, iron is the most used metal. Iron ore accounted for 93% by weight (2.6 billion tons) of all metals mined in 2021 (about 2.8 billion tons), and 98% of iron ore is converted to pig iron to make steel. Industrial metals (e.g., Aluminum, Chromium, Manganese, Copper, Zinc, Nickel) and technology & precious metals accounted for 6,5% and 0,05% by weight, respectively [Visual Capitalist, 2022].
TECHNOLOGY METALS (e.g., Lithium, PGM, REE, Niobium), used in clean energy techs, are usually mined on a smaller scale and could see faster consumption growth (and also supply shortages) as the world adopts new technologies.