International Copper Association Australia

  • About ICAA
    • Projects
    • Partners
    • Global Copper Associations
    • Contact Us
  • News
    • General
    • Antimicrobial Copper
    • Aquaculture
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Mining
    • Plumbing
    • Recycling
    • Renewable Energy
    • Smart Buildings
    • Smart Wiring
    • John’s Blog
  • Benefits of Copper
    • Air Quality
    • Electrical Safety
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Food Supply
    • Green Building
    • Human Health
    • Electric Vehicles
    • Sustainable Development
    • Recycling
    • Renewable Energy
  • Wiring
  • Electrical
  • Plumbing

Rio Tinto’s Smart Move

World Copper Supply & Demand Shifts

The world’s copper market is expected to see a significant surplus over the next two years says the latest forecast from the International Copper Study Group (ICSG). The Group said…

Read More

Aurelia Metals Green Lights Aussie Copper Mine

Australian mining and exploration company Aurelia Metals with two existing mines in  the Cobar Basin in New South Wales will now develop the Great Cobar copper mine. The project involves…

Read More

Rare Child Cancer Sees Possible Copper Cure

Survival from a rare but deadly childhood cancer could improve by applying an existing drug that’s currently used to manage excess copper in the body says Australian study. The drug…

Read More

Artificial Intelligence And Copper: Pulse Briefing #1

The International Copper Association Australia has launched the first of its Pulse Briefings, a series designed to showcase the latest innovations across the resources sector. The first Briefing takes a…

Read More

March 10, 2025 · Commodity, General, Mining, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Energy

Rio Tinto has opened the Centre for Future Materials in London to help find cleaner, smarter ways of extracting copper to fuel the renewable energy and electric revolution.

It’s an urgent problem. As we now know the world will need a lot more copper if we have any hope of supplying all the electric vehicles, solar, wind and tidal power, and technology envisaged for our future. Around 22M tonnes of copper were mined in 2023, a 30% increase from 2010, and yearly demand will reach around 50M tonnes by 2050, analysts say.

But extracting a lot more copper can, given current methods and knowledge, also have big energy and environmental costs. It’s a dilemma facing all mining of course, but Rio Tinto hopes the cutting edge hub will help “connect some of the world’s best researchers” to provide sustainable answers.

Based at Imperial College London in partnership with the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, the University of California, Berkeley, the Australian National University and the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, the new Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials will be funded by the miner to the tune of $150M for its first 10 years.

“The world needs to electrify its energy systems, and success will absolutely depend on copper,” materials scientist and Imperial vice-provost Prof Mary Ryan told the British media. 

“The metal is going to be the biggest bottleneck in this process”.

One possible project will involve tapping underground sites where copper-rich brines are still in liquid form. Traditionally copper is extracted from minerals that have already crystallised from those brines, a process that needs lots of energy to break open the rocks and bring them to the surface, and also generates waste.

Rio Tinto Chief Executive, Jakob Stausholm, said: “Innovative partnerships between industry and academia are critical for the world to meet the deeply physical and complex challenge of the global energy transition”.

 “The Rio Tinto Centre for Future Materials should become a global hub for investment and collaboration that will ultimately create the conditions for technological breakthroughs”.

Detail: https://www.riotinto.com/en/news/releases/2024/rio-tinto-and-imperial-launch-150-million-partnership-to-support-the-global-energy-transition

Featured

World Copper Supply & Demand Shifts

The world’s copper market is expected to see a significant surplus over the next two years says the latest forecast…

Read More

Aurelia Metals Green Lights Aussie Copper Mine

Australian mining and exploration company Aurelia Metals with two existing mines in  the Cobar Basin in New South Wales will…

Read More

Rare Child Cancer Sees Possible Copper Cure

Survival from a rare but deadly childhood cancer could improve by applying an existing drug that’s currently used to manage…

Read More

Artificial Intelligence And Copper: Pulse Briefing #1

The International Copper Association Australia has launched the first of its Pulse Briefings, a series designed to showcase the latest…

Read More

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter and receive the latest credible and independent news from the collective industry.

Subscribe now

About ICAA

  • About ICAA
  • Projects
  • Partners
  • Global Copper Associations
  • Contact Us

Our Other Websites

  • The Copper Mark
  • Antimicrobial Copper
  • Australian Registered Cablers
  • Smart Wiring
International Copper Association Australia Limited
Suite 1A, Level 7, 100 William Street
Woolloomooloo, NSW 2011

E-mail: enquiries@copper.com.au
  • ICAAsiaPacific on Twitter
  • ICAA on LinkedIn
  • MMG Limited
  • Tyree Transformers
  • MM Kembla Copper
  • Ok Tedi Mining Limited
  • Evolution-Mining
  • Sandfire Resources NL
  • Glencore Australia
  • PanAust Limited
  • KEY Tubing & Electrical Pty Ltd
  • Aeris Resources
  • BHP
  • Cyprium Metals
© Copyright 2018 International Copper Association Australia Limited.