2575 dominance of industrial applications, followed by construction and household appliances, to be succeeded by electronics, and now moving forward to energy transition technologies; this last trend came from an unexpected quarter. Multiple lines of evidence point at changing climate patterns incrementally leading to rising temperatures, decreases in rainfall and a global increase in sea level; as climate change intensifies and population increase, pressure on food sources, aquifers, ecosystems, infrastructure, the economy, and human health, grow accordingly. Since the dawn of the industrial revolution, the world economy expanded on the back of burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas), leading to increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the upper levels of the atmosphere, becoming the primary drivers of climate change. Growing consensus on the acceptance of the causal relation: greenhouse gases/climate change was a twist, a pivotal moment. De-carbonising the economy for the sake of future generations and environmental care equates to moving away from fossil fuels while increasing reliance on renewable energy sources; transitioning to a new energy matrix and building the required infrastructure translates into an, at first sight, unexpected consequence: increased minerals demand. Some minerals are particularly critical for a wide range of energy technologies and for the economy as a whole, hence becoming thorny issues in global policy and trade talks. Critical minerals (copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, rare earths) have risen to be a strategic priority for economic security, in particular for advanced economies. The issue is important, inasmuch as copper demand is expected to exceed supply. From the supply side, the sources are twofold, primary (newly-mined) and secondary (recycled) copper, interestingly, both have the same performance properties. The mining industry has made strides towards lowering exploration, extraction and processing costs of ores, both traditional and non-traditional, formerly deemed as non-economic. But, as far as technology is concerned, the advance has been evolutionary rather than revolutionary, mining activities have consistently introduced into their day-to-day practices proven, state-of-the-art technologies with a view to increase efficiency and production rates, while boosting profitability. Although still in its infancy, artificial intelligence (AI) holds the promise to revolutionise the mining value chain. From the demand side, the global shift towards renewable energy sources is the most significant event in the copper fortunes, since the century-long rise of electricity as the backbone of the global energy system. This change of paradigm lays the foundation for structural demand increases that may well underpin higher price levels until further notice, under more or less ceteris paribus conditions. But the only permanent thing is change, and change may occur anytime, nothing can be ruled out while we transition from a fading rulesbased world to the realpolitik of geopolitics and national security priorities, much remains to be seen yet. 3. THE PERUVIAN CONNECTION Over the reviewed period (1971-2026), regardless of its place in the political spectrum (left, centre, right), or the origin of their mandate (democratic, military, care-taking) of the incumbent administration, the economy of the country continued to be primarily reliant on mining and agricultural exports, industrialisation efforts died out with the interventionist military regime (1968-1980). Ownership is no longer the divisive issue it used to be, foreign investment has now a strong presence in medium-scale operations, besides its traditional large-scale niche. What seem to matter most these days is tax collection and fulfilment of commitments (social and environmental). Democratic mismanagement of an open market economy led one of the largest hyperinflations the world has ever seen (1990), after a painful reconstruction process, around 2008, the country elevated its status from a lower-middle-income to an upper-middle-income country.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM0Mzk2