Financing Critical Minerals: Opportunities to Build New Investment Frameworks

Critical minerals are essential inputs in modern energy and high-tech applications, including batteries, energy storage and infrastructure, and national security. They also play an important role in the global energy transition, where demand is expected to necessitate significant investment in order to develop new mines, downstream processing capacity, and secure and resilient supply chains. 

BloombergNEF estimates that supporting clean energy goals through 2050 will require US$1.6 trillion in investment for transition metals such as lithium, nickel, and rare earth elements.¹ 

A pivotal moment in a complex global landscape 

Ensuring secure and resilient supply of critical minerals will require commitment and collaboration between governments and industry participants. In addition to creating an attractive investment environment with transparent and streamlined regulatory processes, the role that mining plays in advancing energy transition and national security initiatives must be more widely recognized. 

In 2023, China produced 98% of the world’s refined manganese, 95% of the world’s refined graphite, 92% of the rare earths used in permanent magnets and 72% of the world’s refined lithium.² Chinese firms also have more than 75% of nickel refining capacity in Indonesia, which is poised to become the world's largest nickel producer.³  

However, on average, it takes more than 15 years to advance a new mine from discovery to production, with almost 12 of those years preceding the decision to construct.⁴ 

BloombergNEF estimates lithium supply will need to increase 465% between 2023 and 2050 to sustain the energy transition, with demand set to exceed supply as soon as this year⁵ and the story is similar for other critical minerals making now, a pivotal moment for both the industry and investors. 

Rising to the challenge  

This challenge can be met, but it will require commitment, creativity, and the development of new frameworks for advancing and funding projects while expanding the pool of available capital. 

At the recent 2025 BloombergNEF Summit in San Francisco, I joined Greg Jones, Battery Materials Analyst, BMO Capital Markets, and Michael Sedoy, Founding Partner, GoGreen Partners, in a private panel discussion with industry participants and investors to define the challenges faced by developers and producers of critical minerals and explore how the industry can rise to the challenge of meeting expected demand. 

BMO Capital Markets – A lead partner 

With these complexities in mind, BMO’s Global Metals & Mining team helps mining and critical minerals companies, and investors, navigate an increasingly complex landscape through its full-service platform with expertise in advisory, capital raising, research, and trading capabilities, and has supported companies in the metals and mining sector for more than a century. 

The challenges and the opportunities of critical minerals investment are among the topics we will explore at the 34th Annual BMO Global Metals, Mining & Critical Minerals Conference in Florida. 

Click here for a BMO podcast featuring Kwasi Ampofo, Head of Metals and Mining, BloombergNEF, on the critical minerals investment outlook.

Sources: 

1. BloombergNEF (October 3, 2024), Transitions Metals Outlook 2024.  

2. BloombergNEF (October 3, 2024). 

3. C4ADS (February 4, 2025), Refining Power  

4. Paul Manalo, S&P Global (June 6, 2023), Discovery to production averages 15.7 years for 127 mines  

5. BloombergNEF (October 3, 2024).