CRITICAL METALS IN HYDROTHERMAL SYSTEMS AND MINERAL DEPOSITS; HOW DO WE UNLOCK THE POTENTIAL? (Invited Presentation)

The critical metals are fundamental for modern society and standards of living, have crucial strategic and defense value, and are vital for climate change mitigation. All of these factors mean that we are currently undergoing a rapid increase in demand for these metals, a significant proportion of which are sourced (or could potentially be sourced) from hydrothermal systems. Increasing the production of these elements both globally and domestically will require significant improvements in our understanding of the processes that concentrate these elements within different mineralizing systems, the behavior of these elements and their hosting minerals during mineral processing and metallurgy, and improved policy development to ensure that domestic supply chains can both be developed and realized. Increased production of critical metals can also provide value for mining companies, not just in terms of environmental value by making the most of existing mineral deposits but also economic value given the increasing demand (and price) of some critical metals combined with the significant amount of critical metals that are already mobilized during active mining but are lost to waste rather than being produced. Adequate critical metal supply to meet increased demand as a result of the energy transition and modern standards of living requires a holistic approach to byproduct critical metal production and the removal of silos between resource definition, mining, smelting and refining. This presentation will provide an overview of the critical metal potential of hydrothermal systems, outline the critical metal potential of existing mining and metal supply chains, and provide insights into how we can extract critical metals into the future.