Data centres: The nucleus of surging copper demand

As artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) technologies continue to reshape the way we live and work, copper is emerging as a key component.

“AI technology may be the brains, but data centres provide the brawn,” BHP said in its latest ‘BHP Insights’ blog.

Data centres house the hardware powering AI tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Google’s Gemini, enabling super-fast data processing, storage and retrieval.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), data centre construction in the US doubled over the past two years as tech giants expand to meet AI-driven demand.

In 2024, Microsoft alone committed $US2.9 billion to grow its AI infrastructure in Japan.

According to BHP, data centres require vast amounts of copper for their construction, particularly for their power networks, circuit boards and cooling systems.

It was estimated that the building of Microsoft’s $US500 million data centre in Chicago required 2177 tonnes of copper.

Copper is also essential to the infrastructure used to generate the electricity needed to run these power-hungry centres.

“We estimate the copper used in data centres globally will grow six-fold by 2050 – from around half a million tonnes a year of copper today, to around three million tonnes a year by 2050,” BHP said.

“That uplift is roughly equivalent to the combined annual output of the world’s four largest copper mines today.”

BHP chief executive officer Mike Henry emphasised the company’s strategic focus on copper in a recent post to the company’s X account (formerly Twitter).

“We want to grow in copper,” Henry said. “Over the next 20 years the world is going to need up to 70 per cent more copper.”

The company is actively expanding its copper operations to meet this anticipated demand, having recently achieved record nine-month copper production of 1.5 million tonnes, driven by a 20 per cent increase at its Escondida mine in Chile.