Copper and Sustainable Development

Copper and copper-based alloys are used in a variety of applications that are necessary for a reasonable standard of living. Its continued production and use is essential for society's development. How society exploits and uses its resources, while ensuring that tomorrow's needs are not compromised, is an important factor in ensuring society's sustainable development.

The demand for copper will continue to be met by the discovery of new deposits, technological improvements, efficient design, and by taking advantage of the renewable nature of copper through reuse and recycling. As well, competition between materials, and supply and demand principles, contribute to ensuring that materials are used efficiently and effectively.

Copper is an important contributor to the national economies of mature, newly developed and developing countries. Mining, processing, recycling, and the transformation of metal into a multitude of products creates jobs and generates wealth. These activities contribute to building and maintaining a country's infrastructure, and create trade and investment opportunities. This is particularly important for lesser-developed countries seeking to improve their living standards.

Copper will continue to contribute to society's development well into the future.

Is there enough copper to meet future needs?

Copper is distributed in the earth's crust and oceans in various forms and concentrations, which form the overall resource-base for copper.

Often, there are references to "world reserves" of a metal. Reserves indicate the amount of material that can be economically extracted or produced at the time of determination. Improved extraction techniques and technologies, new discoveries, depletion, and changes in economic conditions are some of the factors that alter reserve levels. For instance, world copper reserves have jumped from 90 million tonnes in 1950 to 280 and 340 million tonnes in 1970 and 1998, repectively (Source:  United States Geological Survey, USGS).

Similarly, resource levels change as well. The USGS estimated in 1999 that world resources were at 2.3 billion tonnes of copper.

Copper in History From Ores to Products Properties and Uses Copper and Health Copper and the Environment Copper Recycling Copper and Sustainable Development World Copper Consumption Consumption per Capita and Intensity of Use Trade, Exports and Imports Exchanges Copper Prices and Stocks World Copper Production and Consumption