360° Perspective on the Future of Mineral Supply for the Energy Transition

About the event

The energy transition depends on minerals. But where could future supply come from – and how might it evolve? Are we just repeating the past or are the challenges facing future mineral supply fundamentally different?

Explore future supply scenarios for copper, nickel, lithium and graphite, and the connections between mineral exploration, mining and the materials underpinning electrification and battery technologies.

Set in UTS’s Data Arena, this immersive presentation will draw on the latest research using the Primary Exploration, Mining and Metal Supply Scenario (PEMMSS) model to examine how mineral supply could evolve. Participants will gain key insights from an upcoming report and online data explorer.

The session will examine different possible mineral supply futures, the assumptions behind them, and their implications for the energy transition, nature conservation and sustainable development. It will explore how scenario modelling can help us make sense of uncertainty and connect developments in mineral exploration with the longer-term outlook for supply.

What we’ll explore

• Four key commodities for the energy transition: copper, nickel, lithium and graphite.

• From exploration to supply: how mineral exploration and resource development could shape future availability.

• Different possible futures: the assumptions and uncertainties shaping mineral supply pathways.

• Beyond supply: what these pathways could mean for the energy transition, nature conservation and sustainable development.

Who should attend?

This event is for anyone interested in the future of material supply for the energy transition—from battery and materials researchers to mineral exploration professionals, critical minerals specialists, scenario modellers, policy practitioners and advocates.

Whether you focus on the materials needed for new technologies and the processes that bring minerals into supply, or are just interested in the sustainability of material supply chains, this session will connect those perspectives. No prior familiarity with these topics is needed.

About the speaker

The event will be delivered by Dr Stephen Northey, a Research Director at the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures.

Stephen’s research examines the connections between mineral and metal supply, sustainable development and the transition to a decarbonised economy. He specialises in quantitative sustainability assessment and mineral supply modelling, including scenarios for commodities important to electrification and battery technologies. Over the years, his work has spanned the greenhouse gas emission, water use and life cycle impacts of metal production, and worked to advance the theory, models and datasets required to understand the sustainable development implications of future mineral supply.