en.Wedoany.com Reported - At the recent PDAC mining conference in Canada, Patrick Lahaie, a senior partner at McKinsey & Company, stated that although the global mining industry is expected to raise approximately $4.6 trillion (about $7 trillion CAD) by 2035 to meet the metal demand associated with the energy transition, the primary challenge facing the industry is not a shortage of capital but rather a deficiency in production efficiency.

According to data provided by McKinsey, after a decade of stagnation, mining productivity achieved a 1% growth last year, primarily due to improvements in labor and capital utilization efficiency. However, Lahaie emphasized that this increase remains insufficient to fully meet future market demands.

During the event, in an interview with Henry Lazenby, Western Editor of The Northern Miner, Lahaie explicitly stated, "We don't see capital as the bottleneck. The core factor driving industry progress is the widespread adoption of technology." He pointed out that by introducing more advanced technologies and optimizing processes, the mining industry can significantly enhance its output efficiency, thereby better supporting the global energy transition.

The energy transition continues to dominate demand growth for metals like copper, while emerging applications in data center construction and the defense sector are also intensifying supply pressures. Lahaie added that data centers could account for 3% to 4% of global copper demand, while defense-related demand could be as high as 8%. These factors collectively underscore the urgency of improving mining productivity to balance supply and demand.

Overall, McKinsey's analysis indicates that while the mining industry has an optimistic outlook for capital raising, the productivity gap remains a key obstacle to achieving sustainable development goals. The industry needs to increase investment in technology and innovation to address increasingly complex market demands and ensure the smooth progression of the energy transition.

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