“A map without flags, but with an owner”

  1. The world is written in raw materials

Power is not in speeches, it is underground. Not in flags, but in deposits. Every economic model, every military power, every dream of development today depends on minerals, grains, metals and energy. Without lithium there are no batteries. Without wheat there is no bread. Without uranium there are no nuclear plants. Behind every lit city and every working cell phone, there is an extraction system that impoverishes many to enrich a few. The 21st century will not be digital if it is not material. And it all begins in a mine, a river or a field.

  1. Twenty raw materials, one global dispute

The planet runs on more than a hundred essential raw materials. But there are twenty that sustain it. They are: lithium, copper, iron, gold, silver, aluminum, oil, natural gas, coal, rare earths, coltan, nickel, manganese, uranium, fresh water, phosphate, graphite and key cereals such as wheat, corn and soy. To these we add silicon and green hydrogen. All are essential for energy, transportation, defense, food, fertilizers or infrastructure. And all are concentrated in few territories. Today’s geopolitical disputes are no longer explained only by ideologies. They are explained by this list.

And this list is not neutral. It is a map of power. Whoever controls these resources controls the 21st century. This is not about diplomacy, it is about domination. This is not about cooperation, it is about appropriation. Wars are no longer fought with flags, they are fought with contracts, sanctions and treaties that disguise plunder as investment. Africa is not poor: it is rich in lithium, coltan and gold. Latin America is not unstable: it is coveted for its copper, water and food. And the Middle East was never just oil: now it is also gas and strategic routes. The world does not turn for values. It turns for raw materials.

  1. Ten countries, over 90 percent

China, Russia, the United States, Brazil, Australia, Canada, India, South Africa, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia concentrate over 90 percent of production or control over these key materials.

China

  • rare earths (90%), processed lithium (70%), electric batteries (80%), graphite (75%), refined copper (60%), rare earth magnets (80%)

Russia

  • natural gas (17%), oil (12%), wheat (20%), uranium (8%), nickel (9%), aluminum (6%), fertilizers (15%)

United States

  • control of agricultural and energy futures contracts (90% of global market), marginal own production but control of oil, gas, gold, corn, wheat and copper prices

Brazil

  • niobium (63%), iron (8%), bauxite (13%), soy exported in Latin America (50%)

Australia

  • lithium (46%), iron (38%), metallurgical coal (30%), gold (20%)

Canada

  • uranium (7%), gold (4%), lithium (3%), potash (10%), global mining investments (20% via Toronto Stock Exchange)

India

  • iron (8%), bauxite (5%), thermal coal (9%), wheat (3rd largest producer worldwide)

South Africa

  • manganese (39%), platinum (70%), chromium (45%), gold (10%)

Saudi Arabia

  • oil (17%), proven reserves (2nd after Venezuela), liquefied gas (10%)

Venezuela

  • oil (18.2% of proven reserves), iron (3%), gold (5%), bauxite (15% regional potential)

Those who dominate these resources dictate the terms of world trade.

  1. Africa, the continent that gives everything and gets nothing

Africa holds over 30% of the planet’s strategic minerals. But it continues to export without added value and under foreign control.

  • Niger holds 5% of the world’s uranium, mostly exploited by French company Orano. In 2023, over 80% of its exports went to Europe, while the population suffered power cuts.
  • Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the world leader in cobalt and coltan, exploited by Glencore (Switzerland) and China Molybdenum. 72% of cobalt exported in 2022 was processed in China.
  • Botswana produces over 20% of the world’s diamonds, controlled by De Beers (UK).
  • Angola exports crude oil worth over 25 billion USD annually, almost all operated by TotalEnergies (France), Chevron (USA) and Sinopec (China).
  • South Africa and Gabon control 40% of the world’s manganese, but process less than 5%.

In 2023, Africa exported over 150 billion USD in raw materials. But 75% of that wealth was invoiced outside the continent. The resource map does not match the development map.

  1. Latin America, the bank without a vault

Latin America concentrates lithium, copper, iron, bauxite, oil, gold and cereals. But it does not control the price or the production chain.

  • Chile is the world’s top copper exporter (5.6 million tonnes) and second in lithium (40,000 tonnes LCE), but has no share in global battery production.
  • Argentina has the second-largest lithium reserves and exported over 900 million USD of this mineral in 2023. But 95% was extracted by Livent (USA), Allkem (Australia) and Ganfeng (China).
  • Brazil leads in iron (400 Mt/year), niobium (90% of the market), bauxite and soy (152 Mt), but Vale and Bunge dominate the business.
  • Venezuela has iron (Cerro Bolívar), oil, bauxite and gold, but sanctions and corruption block productive sovereignty.
  • Peru is second in silver, third in copper and gold, but the largest mining companies operating there are foreign: Freeport, Newmont and Glencore.

Latin America produces for the world. But the world decides how much it pays.

  1. Canada and Australia, the back office of extractivism
  • Canada has less than 3% of the world’s lithium, but controls deposits in the USA, Argentina, Namibia and Chile. It is the largest financer of junior mining globally. Companies like Allkem, Lithium Americas and Nemaska lead from Toronto.
  • Produces 500 tonnes of lithium per year, but controls over 10,000 in external operations.
  • In 2023, it exported 21 billion USD in minerals. Only 35% was processed locally.
  • Australia is the world’s top lithium producer (86,000 tonnes LCE in 2023) and second iron exporter (900 Mt). It has giants like Pilbara Minerals and Mineral Resources. But 75% of lithium is sold to China without added value.

Both countries mine under other nations’ flags. They are the raw materials banks of the Western system.

  1. China, the power that processes what it doesn’t have

China imports raw materials and exports technological hegemony.

  • Refines 70% of global lithium, 60% of copper and almost all graphite.
  • Controls 90% of rare earths, and produces 80% of the magnets needed for electric cars and wind turbines.
  • Has presence in over 120 mining projects in Africa, Asia and South America.
  • In 2023, it invested 10.2 billion USD in acquiring foreign mining assets.

Its power is not having mines, it is having smelters. While others extract, China transforms and sells.

  1. United States, the power that sets prices
  • COMEX and NYMEX set global prices for gold, copper, silver, gas and oil.
  • CBOT dominates the trade of wheat, corn and soy.
  • The largest agricultural trading companies (Cargill, ADM, Bunge) and metals traders (Goldman Sachs, Glencore, Trafigura) operate from Wall Street or Chicago.
  • It controls futures contracts, imposes the dollar as the transactional currency, and has the final say in any financial dispute.

The US doesn’t dig wells. It sets prices and moves conflicts. Afghanistan has lithium. Iraq had oil. Ukraine has wheat and uranium. Nothing is accidental.

  1. Russia, energy, food and survival
  • 17% of the world’s gas, 12% oil, 20% wheat, 8% uranium, 9% nickel.
  • Produces 70 million tonnes of strategic cereals.
  • In nickel, Nornickel is one of the world’s top companies.
  • Rosatom controls the export of nuclear technology.
  • Western blockade reconfigured its trade map: more with China, India, Iran, Turkey and Brazil.

Russia uses energy as a geopolitical lever. And it resists not with slogans, but with tonnes.

  1. How much time is left for these materials?
  • Lithium: 30 years of global reserves (USGS, 2024)
  • High-grade copper: 40 years
  • Coltan: 20 years
  • Accessible uranium: 50 years
  • Iron: 60 years
  • Nickel: 70 years
  • Manganese: 30 years
  • Rare earths: 25 years
  • Pure gold: 20 years
  • Fresh water: 70% already committed

The planet will not end. But easy reserves will. And there is no international agreement on how to share or protect them. The energy transition accelerates demand but does not change the model: it remains extractive, unequal and suicidal.

  1. Peoples still waiting
  • In Jujuy, indigenous communities resist lithium expansion without consultation.
  • In Calama, copper workers demand reinvestment in their territories.
  • In Niger, children study in the dark while their uranium lights Paris.
  • In Bolivia, lithium is promised as hope, but is still not industrialized.
  • In the DRC, cobalt mines grow, but so does child exploitation.

Raw materials are not just materials. They are contracts, borders, open wounds. And if the rules don’t change, they will remain that: promises for a few, ruin for many.

  1. Epilogue

The model must be broken. Raw materials cannot keep leaving at the price the market imposes, nor under secret contracts signed 40 years ago. We need industrial sovereignty, strong national companies, solid regional alliances and environmental justice.

We must build a system where lithium is not only extracted, but transformed. Where copper is not only exported, but integrated. Where water is not privatized. Where uranium does not feed weapons, but science.

Where gold does not sustain dirty fortunes, but public reserves. Where silver does not adorn elites, but medical technologies. Where aluminum is not given away to foreign smelters, but builds our own trains.

Where coal does not pollute lungs, but is phased out with dignity. Where rare earths do not feed empires, but emerging sovereignties. Where coltan does not finance wars, but connects schools.

Where nickel does not fatten private accounts, but national batteries. Where manganese is not discarded, but turned into added value. Where phosphate does not exhaust soils, but nourishes fair crops.

Where graphite does not escape untaxed, but returns as industry. Where wheat is not business, but bread. Where corn is not transgenic, but sacred. Where soy does not replace forests, but respects peoples.

Where silicon is not exported raw, but in our own chips. Where green hydrogen is not auctioned to the highest bidder, but saved for history.

We must stop asking permission to use what is ours. We must break the map, redraw it, and this time with justice. Because it is not only about minerals. It is about peoples.

And this time, they must not be left out of the contract.