Dan Dreyfus: The Next AI Bottleneck is Copper

The gist

1. Copper demand will nearly double in 18 years but supply grows only about 500,000 tons a year, creating a structural deficit that needs 5 new tier-one mines every year.
2. Silver has a 200-million-ounce annual deficit with only 600 million ounces of above-ground inventory left, giving it roughly a 3-year depletion clock.
3. Dreyfus says craft labor, not materials or capital, is the real bottleneck, with entry-level mining and trades jobs now paying $150K or more.
4. The US government is using equity checks, fast-tracked permits, and take-or-pay offtake agreements to restart dormant mines and cut Chinese control over critical minerals.