Refined copper cathodes

Primary uses. electrical wiring and cabling; power transmission; electronics; plumbing.

The chain — from the ground to the buyer

A critical material passes through distinct stages, and the country that leads each stage is often different — that gap is what this atlas exists to show. Each layer comes from a different public source with its own vintage, labelled below; shares are % of the world total.

● Reserves — where it could come from

Reserves are the deposits known to exist and economically worth mining — the long-run ceiling on supply, distinct from what is actually produced today. Refined copper cathodes's reserves are broadly diversified: 🇨🇱 Chile holds the most (19%), ahead of 🇵🇪 Peru (12%) and 🇦🇺 Australia (10%). At today's extraction rate the known reserves would last roughly 45 years, so scarcity is not the binding constraint — access, capital and processing capacity are. USGS 2024 · reserves as of 2023

● Mined — where it is dug up today

Mining is where ore leaves the ground — the stage most people equate with “the source”, though it is rarely where the supply risk actually concentrates. Output is broadly diversified: 🇨🇱 Chile supplies 23%, with 🇵🇪 Peru (12%) next. BGS World Mineral Statistics · mine production, 2000–2024 (USGS-validated)

● Refined / processed — where it becomes usable metal

Refining / processing converts ore into the metal or compound buyers actually purchase; it concentrates in fewer hands than mining and sits at the buyer's doorstep, which is why it is usually the true chokepoint. 🇨🇳 China processes 47% — moderately concentrated. So although 🇨🇱 Chile mines the most, China controls processing: the dependency the mine map hides, and the reason import-origin statistics misread the real source. On the buffers: 17% of supply is recovered from end-of-life recycling and substitutes are only partial, while the US imports 46% of what it consumes. BGS World Mineral Statistics 2024

● Recycling & substitutability — the mitigants (EU CRM)

17% of supply comes from recycling end-of-life products — a meaningful secondary source that lowers the supply-risk score. Substitutability is medium — partial substitutes exist.

● Traded — who ships it

Actual bilateral trade of the traded form, reconciled from UN Comtrade / CEPII BACI. Pick a year below — 2018–2024 measured, 2025* nowcast, 2026** directional scenario. The full 2002–2026 range is on the interactive atlas.

Context

Chile ~39%, then the DRC and Congo. The naive view says Italy (~31%); the true origins are South American and Central African mines - diversified, with a notable DRC share.

Every figure on this page is computed from out/data.json and out/flows_2024.json by build_profiles.py — no hand-entered numbers.