The term “critical minerals” has been getting tossed around a lot lately. Most people know that certain elements are essential to many modern conveniences and technologies we take for granted, like our smartphones and electric cars. But which metals are we talking about exactly, why are they so important to the green energy transition, how much of them do we need, and what’s the mining industry’s role in helping meet that demand?

In this episode of Why We Mine, host Robin Stickley explores the growing global demand for elements like lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, graphite, and zinc, with the help of Dr. Peter Tom Jones, Director of the KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals in Belgium. She also speaks with Mark Zacharias, the Executive Director of Clean Energy Canada, to find out why governments around the world, including Canada, are crafting specific strategies to ensure they have adequate access to these metals in the future.