Resources Policy最新文献

{"title":"Mine suppliers: Understanding backward linkages in Kitwe, Zambia","authors":"Anja Benshaul-Tolonen,&nbsp;Paula Fernandez Musso","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105672","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105672","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The integration of domestic firms into the mining global value chain (GVC) can bolster local economies, yet the scale and impact of these linkages remain largely unknown. This study examines the mining value chain in Kitwe, a key mining hub in Zambia’s Copperbelt. Ten years of official government VAT data on domestic purchases and imports reveals that mine suppliers have a stronger presence in the Kitwe import market compared to other local firms. However, their demand for goods and services, both domestically and internationally, is influenced by fluctuations in the global copper price. In addition, our cross-sectional firm survey indicates that mine suppliers are older, larger, and more likely registered with tax authorities. The majority of surveyed firms express strong interest in entering the mining GVC but report that competition, low demand and lack of network connections constrain them from achieving their desired level of engagement. Policy efforts should focus on fostering stronger, higher value-added linkages and connecting more local firms to the mining sector, while also developing strategies to mitigate the deleterious effects of fluctuating copper prices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 105672"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144704307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Graphite and manganese mining in the U.S.: Proposed projects and federal battery mineral policies","authors":"E.A. Holley ,&nbsp;L. Fahle ,&nbsp;N.M. Smith ,&nbsp;R. Deberdt ,&nbsp;J. Calderon ,&nbsp;G. Gibbs ,&nbsp;M. Bazilian","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105689","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105689","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Demand is increasing for the minerals used in energy transmission and storage, such as graphite and manganese in batteries. These two commodities are produced in relatively few locations around the world, and major consumers such as the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) are highly reliant on imports, especially for refined products from China. In the US, graphite and manganese are not currently mined. In efforts to avoid geopolitical supply chain disruptions, the U.S. federal government has implemented new policies promoting domestic mining and processing of critical minerals. This contribution reviews the geological resources and development status of graphite and manganese projects in the U.S. and examines the impacts of policies on U.S. mining and processing of these two commodities. Measured, indicated, and inferred resources of 20.9 Mt are known for graphite, including 3.7 Mt of reserves. Resources of 50.5 Mt are known for manganese, with no established reserves. Graphite exploration is in advanced stages in Alaska and Alabama and in early stages in Montana and New York. There is one operating processing plant for natural graphite in Louisiana and one is under construction in Alabama. Synthetic graphite is produced in one plant in New York, and synthetic graphite plants are under construction in Georgia and Tennessee. One manganese mine is in permitting review in Arizona, and manganese exploration is underway in Minnesota and Arizona. Historic manganese mines in Arkansas, Maine, Colorado, Nevada, and Montana are unlikely to reopen in the near term, and exploration for manganese on the seafloor is in very early stages. The potential for known resources to meet demand is modeled based on three energy transition scenarios and a range of battery share assumptions, showing that known graphite resources are likely sufficient to meet future U.S. demand for hundreds of years, whereas manganese resources are sufficient to meet only decades of projected U.S. demand. Supply bottlenecks will arise if these projects do not progress into development. Policies intended to spur domestic production include the Biden administration's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021, the 2022 authorization of the Defense Production Act, the 2022 CHIPS in Science Act, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, as well as the second Trump administration's 2025 executive orders on Unleashing American Energy and Unleashing America's Offshore Minerals and Resources. Potential shortfalls include overemphasis on processing compared to mining, insufficient incentives, and a contentious regulatory framework for both terrestrial and deep sea mining.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 105689"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144653611","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nickel and cobalt from U.S. mines and refineries: Assessment of five dimensions of mineral availability","authors":"E.A. Holley ,&nbsp;A. Malone ,&nbsp;L. Fahle ,&nbsp;N.M. Smith ,&nbsp;J. Calderon ,&nbsp;R. Eggert ,&nbsp;D.E. Spiller ,&nbsp;M.D. Bazilian","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105687","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105687","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Federal policies in the United States (U.S.) are aimed at increasing domestic mining and refining of critical minerals such as nickel (Ni) and cobalt (Co). These two metals are key components in lithium-ion NMC batteries common in electric vehicles. This paper examines active and proposed Ni and Co mining and refining projects in the U.S. to evaluate five dimensions of mineral availability: 1) Geological, 2) Technical, 3) Economic, 4) Political, and 5) Social and Environmental. Only very small amounts of Ni and Co have been mined in the U.S. in recent decades. Despite significant geological resources of Ni and Co in the U.S., the only Ni mining is at Eagle, Michigan, which produces a nickel concentrate that is refined in Canada. There is no U.S. Co production, and recent Co mine construction in Idaho has halted due to market pricing. Proposals for new Ni mines have met with social opposition and regulatory complexity at Maturi, NorthMet, and Mesaba in Minnesota based on environmental concerns. Domestic refining is limited to minor byproduct recovery of Ni and Co from Stillwater ores at the Columbus refinery, Montana. Refineries have been proposed or are under construction in Missouri, Idaho, and Minnesota. Despite the geological availability of U.S. Ni and Co, the majority of these resources have not yet been demonstrated as viable from the technical, economic, political, social and environmental dimensions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 105687"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144633002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Beyond black gold: Rethinking fiscal policy for a diversified future in Kuwait's oil-dependent economy","authors":"Ayele U. Gelan,&nbsp;Siddig A. Salih","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105679","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105679","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates the implications of fiscal policy reform in an oil-dependent economy, using Kuwait as a case study. The research highlights the structural imbalances rooted in Kuwait's heavy reliance on oil revenues and aims to demonstrate how comprehensive fiscal reforms can mitigate this dependency while addressing other economic distortions. Utilizing a recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model calibrated to Kuwait's 2022 social account matrix, the study simulates various scenarios over an eighty-one-year horizon to evaluate the potential impacts of different fiscal policy changes. Key findings reveal that without significant reforms, the fiscal dependence on oil will persist, as indicated by only marginal decrease in the fiscal dependence on extractives (FDE) index under a business-as-usual scenario. However, targeted reforms, including increases in taxes and reductions in subsidies, can drastically lower the FDE index by the end of the simulation period, suggesting that non-oil revenues could fully finance government expenditures and yield budget surpluses. The results underscore the broader economic-wide benefits of fiscal policy reform, which not only reduce fiscal dependency on oil but also rectify other structural economic imbalances. This study provides significant insights into the potential for structured fiscal reforms to generate synergistic economy-wide effects, emphasizing the necessity for a resource dependent economy to pursue such reforms to ensure sustainable economic stability post-oil depletion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 105679"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144623586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Global iron ore trade network resilience assessment and shock response patterns of critical economies","authors":"Gang Wu ,&nbsp;Xiaomin Liu ,&nbsp;Yue Pu ,&nbsp;Lianyue Feng","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105675","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105675","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Iron ore is one of the critical strategic resources, emphasizing the importance of maintaining the trade system stability and predicting potential risks to analyze its trade network resilience and the shock response patterns of critical economies. This paper constructs the global iron ore trade networks (GIOTNs) using the CEPII database covering 219 economies in 2000–2023. We measure network resilience, node resilience, and explore the impact of economies on network resilience using two interrupt simulation strategies. Then, we identify the critical nodes, analyzing their shock response patterns and their driving factors based on the two-way fixed effects model. We report that: (I) The number of trade relationships, clustering, and information transfer exhibit an overall growth trend, with network density at a relatively higher level, suggesting that the GIOTNs have higher network diversity and connectivity. The fluctuation range of assortativity is relatively small, and there are obvious reciprocal trade relationships in the GIOTNs, resulting in higher network stability. Consequently, the resilience of GIOTNs is constantly increasing. (II) Developed economies have higher trade diversity, Asian economies have higher product demand, Australia and Brazil have higher product supply, the Netherlands and China play important trade bridge roles, China has stronger trade transmission power. (III) The impact of economies on the network resilience of GIOTNs not only exhibits obvious hierarchical characteristics, but also shows an obvious correlation under the import trade diversity and product supply, import and export trade diversity, trade diversity and trade bridge location. (IV) Critical economies gradually form seven shock response patterns that affect the resilience of the GIOTNs, empirical analysis indicates that these shock response patterns are potentially driven by the economy’s trade diversity, trade bridge position, and iron ore production, especially in the trade bridge position.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 105675"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144623585","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sustainability transition paradox: Emerging dimensions of illegal artisanal and small-scale mining of critical minerals in Africa","authors":"James Boafo ,&nbsp;Francis Arthur-Holmes","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105673","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105673","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The global push for energy transition has intensified competition for Africa's mineral resources, which are essential for producing low-emission technologies. This renewed demand is reshaping the continent's extractive sector and, in some cases, exacerbating governance challenges and reinforcing illegal artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) activities. In this review, we examine how the search and demand for critical minerals contribute to illegal ASM operations in Africa. Drawing on emerging evidence from the copper industry in Zambia, the lithium sector in Zimbabwe, and the cobalt industry in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), we identify a growing incidence of illegal ASM activities involving critical minerals. Our findings suggest that the high global demand for critical minerals contributes to illegal ASM activities in our case study countries. However, significant contributing factors include rural poverty, unemployment, limited livelihood options, access to mineral-rich lands, declining agricultural productivity due to climate change, and the need for funds to support rebel activities. We argue that the race for Africa's resources to support global energy transition may create a <em>sustainability transition paradox</em>—advancing long-term social and technological transformation while simultaneously intensifying sustainability challenges such as environmental degradation and water pollution. These insights have important implications for policies aimed at promoting responsible mining practices and ensuring that energy transitions are both equitable and sustainable.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 105673"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144623420","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mineral price shocks on macroeconomic aggregates in a highly dependent small open economy: Evidence from Peru, 2003–2024","authors":"Elmer Sánchez-Dávila ,&nbsp;Andrés Riquelme","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105677","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105677","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The aim of this paper is to estimate the effects of a mineral price shock on macroeconomic aggregates in a small open economy that is highly dependent on mineral exports, such as Peru. The paper considers two key features of the Peruvian mining industry: its polymetallic nature and the cyclical phases of price fluctuations. The former allows for the development of a Mineral Price Index (MPI), while the latter enables the testing of structural breaks, which facilitates the use of a Time-Varying Parameter Vector Autoregressive (TVP-VAR) model. Our results indicate that a shock to the MPI has a significant effect of 11.5 % on GDP and 15.5 % on overall inflation. However, the impact varies depending on the phase of MPI fluctuations. These findings underscore the importance of having flexible policy responses to mitigate the effects of future mineral price shocks and highlight the role that mineral price fluctuations play in shaping Peru's macroeconomic performance, particularly during boom periods. This paper also contributes to filling the gap in the local empirical literature regarding these two aspects of the Peruvian mining industry.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 105677"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144623421","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The state of cobalt mining Laws: Implications for the future of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia cobalt mining prospects","authors":"Jeleel Abiola Balyaminu","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105688","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105688","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Globally, there is a significant increase in the demand for cobalt, which is marked by a notable sophistication in market dynamics. Cobalt, a critical natural resource, is predominantly sourced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia. However, in these countries, vulnerabilities and tensions occasionally arise among various stakeholders involved in cobalt mining, including employees, government authorities, law enforcement, local communities, and civil society. These tensions often stem from differing interpretations of mining legislation and how these laws influence mining operations and safeguard the interests of each stakeholder. This situation raises pertinent questions regarding the nature of the relationship between existing mining laws and cobalt mining regulations in the DRC and Zambia, as well as the extent of stakeholder engagement in the decision-making process pertaining to cobalt mining legislation. Employing a cross-sectional probing method, this paper examines the current state of mining legislation and its implications for the future economic prospects of this natural resource, alongside the protection of stakeholder interests. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with community representatives, mine employees, and artisanal mine operators. Additionally, focus group discussions were held to gather expert opinions at both national and international levels, with the aim of obtaining insight into potential policy solutions. The findings reveal divergent perspectives among stakeholders on the legal frameworks that govern the cobalt mining sector. The thematic analysis conducted indicates a tendency towards favouritism in the implementation of legal instruments and highlights the exclusion of various stakeholders from the policy formulation process ab initio for mining laws in the DRC and Zambia. This study advocates for an inclusive overhaul of policies and a comprehensive review of guidelines to enhance governance in the cobalt mining sector.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 105688"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144623422","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Critical minerals volatility under ESG uncertainty: Implications for the clean energy transition","authors":"Oktay Ozkan ,&nbsp;Emmanuel Uche ,&nbsp;Chinazaekpere Nwani ,&nbsp;Kingsley I. Okere","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105678","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105678","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Critical minerals are essential to the clean energy transition as key inputs for renewable energy technologies. However, growing uncertainty in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors has introduced significant volatility into critical mineral markets, with implications for energy security and sustainability. This study investigates the impact of ESG uncertainty (ESGU) on the volatility of critical minerals using global monthly data from November 2002 to September 2024 and applying quantile-on-quantile regression (QQR) techniques. The results reveal heterogeneous relationships across the distributions: ESGU is negatively associated with critical mineral volatility at lower ESGU quantiles and higher mineral quantiles (except platinum); neutral associations emerge at mid-quantiles; and strong positive associations are observed when both ESGU and mineral volatility are high. These findings highlight how ESG-related risks add layers of unpredictability to mineral markets, potentially affecting clean energy production costs, investment flows, and long-term supply chain resilience. Policymakers should mitigate these risks by diversifying supply chains through domestic exploration, international partnerships, and strategic stockpiling to ensure stable access to critical raw materials for the clean energy sector.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 105678"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144604138","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Geopolitical risks, critical materials and energy transition: Insights from wavelet analysis","authors":"Lyubov Doroshenko ,&nbsp;Ivan De Crescenzo ,&nbsp;Loretta Mastroeni ,&nbsp;Alessandro Mazzoccoli","doi":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105666","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.resourpol.2025.105666","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates how the prices of selected energy transition-related commodities respond to geopolitical risks, with particular attention to the suitability of a widely used geopolitical risk index in relation to the commodities included in the dataset. From a methodological perspective, the analysis is conducted via a wavelet-based method. The dataset includes natural gas, copper, palladium, and cobalt futures prices, whose time series cover a fourteen-year time span (2010-2024), while geopolitical risk is measured through the well known text-based geopolitical risk (GPR) index by Caldara and Iacoviello. The study is supported by an in-depth geopolitical discussion, analyzing events and dynamics relevant to the current international context. Our investigation shows different degrees of correlation between geopolitical risk and the above-mentioned commodities. From an overall perspective, commodities with a long-standing history of application tend to exhibit a more straightforward connection with geopolitical dynamics. In contrast, those that have recently gained prominence in the energy transition — especially newer entrants — show weaker and less consistent signals. In this respect, despite its widespread use in the literature, we infer that the GPR index has certain limitations when used to explain dynamics affecting rare and critical elements — particularly those sourced from geographical areas that are not regularly covered by mainstream media. The issue of the GPR index’s adequacy in such contexts appears to be largely overlooked in current academic sources. Recognizing that the energy transition is driving a paradigm shift from a geostrategic standpoint requires a critical awareness when employing such indexes. At the same time, it calls for rethinking how risk indexes are designed, so that they better reflect geopolitical phenomena linked to the new centers of gravity emerging from the energy transition. The results are directed towards policymakers and regulators, who are called upon to govern the energy transition with a focus on the availability of critical materials in the coming decades.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20970,"journal":{"name":"Resources Policy","volume":"108 ","pages":"Article 105666"},"PeriodicalIF":10.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144588309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}