Editing Copper (section)

===Reserves and prices===
Copper has been in use for at least 10,000 years, but more than 95% of all copper ever mined and [[smelting|smelted]] has been extracted since 1900.<ref name="Leonard2006" /> As with many natural resources, the total amount of copper on Earth is vast, with around 10<sup>14</sup> tons in the top kilometer of Earth's crust, which is about 5&nbsp;million years' worth at the current rate of extraction. However, only a tiny fraction of these reserves is economically viable with present-day prices and technologies. Estimates of copper reserves available for mining vary from 25 to 60 years, depending on core assumptions such as the growth rate.<ref>{{cite book|author=Brown, Lester|title=Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble|publisher=New York: W.W. Norton|date=2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/planb20rescuingp00brow_0/page/109 109]|isbn=978-0-393-32831-8|url=https://archive.org/details/planb20rescuingp00brow_0|url-access=registration}}</ref> Recycling is a major source of copper in the modern world.<ref name="Leonard2006">{{cite news |last1=Leonard |first1=Andrew |title=Peak copper? |url=https://www.salon.com/2006/03/02/peak_copper/ |access-date=8 March 2022 |work=Salon |date=3 March 2006 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Price of Copper.webp|thumb|325px|right|Price of Copper 1959–2022]]
The price of copper is [[Volatility (finance)|volatile]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Schmitz|first=Christopher|title=The Rise of Big Business in the World, Copper Industry 1870–1930|journal=Economic History Review|date=1986|volume=39|series=2|issue=3|pages=392–410|jstor=2596347|doi=10.1111/j.1468-0289.1986.tb00411.x}}</ref> After a peak in 2022 the price unexpectedly fell.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Copper is unexpectedly getting cheaper |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2023/07/06/copper-is-unexpectedly-getting-cheaper |access-date=2023-12-19 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> And by May 2024, the price on the [[London Metal Exchange]] has reached an all-time high above $11,000 per ton.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-05-20 |title=Copper price hits record above $11,000 on bets that shortage looms |url=https://www.mining.com/web/copper-price-hits-record-above-11000-on-bets-that-shortage-looms/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=MINING.COM |language=en-US}}</ref>

The global market for copper is one of the most [[Commodification|commodified]] and [[Financialization|financialized]] of the [[Commodity market|commodity markets]], and has been so for decades.<ref name=":072">{{Cite book |last=Massot |first=Pascale |title=China's Vulnerability Paradox: How the World's Largest Consumer Transformed Global Commodity Markets |date=2024 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-777140-2 |location=New York, NY, United States of America |pages=}}</ref>{{Rp|page=213}}