Mining
TSX Venture Bear Market Now 1,000 Days and Counting [Chart]
TSX Venture Bear Market Now 1,000 Days and Counting [Chart]
The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays.
Last week, our friends at Palisade Capital, a merchant bank, sent us over a chart breaking up the S&P/TSX Venture Index into its booms and busts since the beginning of 2002. The index, which broadly represents the thousands of companies listed on the TSX Venture exchange, has reached a new ominous milestone.
“The most recent bear market for the TSX Venture began on April 11, 2011 and has now passed 1,000 trading days in length,” said Sean Zubick, Co-founder and COO of Palisade Capital, “That’s more than all bear markets combined since the beginning of 2002.”
The most recent re-wiring of the index was in the aftermath of the Dotcom bubble. This makes it even accurate to say that the current bear market is longer than all other downturns combined in the entire history of the index as we know it.
All previous downturns have occurred over the course of 802 trading days. The current bear market? Now over 1,000 trading days.
The majority of the companies on the index are listed as being in the business of materials (38%) and energy (30%), and these sectors have been in unprecedented slumps. As we previously noted, there is a “miner problem” in that there is a swath of zombie companies that have $2.15 billion of negative working capital on their books.
This type of systematic trouble is not something that gets rectified overnight, and that’s part of the reason the market is in such a mess.
Copper
Why Copper and Nickel Are the Key Metals for Energy Utopia
With more renewables and EVs plugging into the grid, copper and nickel are essential building blocks for the energy transition.

Copper and Nickel: The Key Metals for Energy Utopia
The raw materials required to transport and store clean energy are critical for the energy transition. Copper and nickel are two such metals.
Copper is essential for the transmission and distribution of clean electricity, while nickel powers lithium-ion batteries for EVs and energy storage systems.
The above infographic sponsored by CanAlaska Uranium explores how copper and nickel are enabling green technologies and highlights why they are essential for a utopian energy future.
Copper: Transporting Clean Energy
When it comes to conducting electricity, copper is second only to silver. This property makes it an indispensable building block for multiple energy technologies, including:
- Electric vehicles: On average, a typical electric car contains 53kg of copper, primarily found in the wirings and car components.
- Solar power: Solar panels use 2.8 tonnes of copper per megawatt (MW) of installed capacity, mainly for heat exchangers, wiring, and cabling.
- Wind energy: Onshore wind turbines contain 2.9 tonnes of copper per MW of capacity. Offshore wind turbines, which typically use copper in undersea cables, use 8 tonnes per MW.
- Power grids: Copper, alongside aluminum, is the preferred choice for electric transmission and distribution networks due to its reliability and efficiency.
BloombergNEF projects that, due to its expansive role in clean energy, the demand for copper from clean energy applications will double by 2030 from 2020 levels. The table below compares annual copper demand from clean energy, in tonnes, in 2020 vs. 2030:
Year | Power Grids | EV batteries | Wind | Solar | EV charging | Total (tonnes) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | 1,700,000 | 210,000 | 165,000 | 83,000 | 4,200 | 2,162,200 |
2030P | 2,000,000 | 1,800,000 | 352,000 | 104,000 | 47,100 | 4,303,100 |
Although power grids will account for the largest portion of annual copper demand through 2030, EV batteries are projected to spearhead the growth.
Nickel: Powering Lithium-ion Batteries
Nickel is a key ingredient in lithium-ion batteries for EVs and stationary energy storage systems. For EVs, nickel-based cathodes offer more energy density and longer driving ranges as compared to cathodes with lower nickel content.
According to Wood Mackenzie, batteries could account for 41% of global nickel demand by 2030, up from just 7% in 2021.
End-use | 2021 % of Nickel Demand | 2040P % of Nickel Demand |
---|---|---|
Stainless steel | 69% | 45% |
Battery precursors | 7% | 41% |
Other | 24% | 14% |
Nickel-based cathodes for lithium-ion batteries, including NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) and NCA (Nickel Cobalt Aluminum), are prevalent in EVs and make up more than 50% of the battery cathode chemistry market.
A Bright Future for Copper and Nickel
Both copper and nickel are essential building blocks of EVs and other key technologies for the energy transition and ultimately energy utopia.
As more such technologies are deployed, these metals are likely to be in high demand, with clean energy applications supplementing their existing industrial uses.

CanAlaska is a leading exploration company with a strategic portfolio of uranium, nickel, and copper projects in North America. Click here to learn more.

-
Mining6 months ago
Ranked: The World’s Largest Copper Producers
Many new technologies critical to the energy transition rely on copper. Here are the world’s largest copper producers.
-
Silver2 years ago
Mapped: Solar Power by Country in 2021
In 2020, solar power saw its largest-ever annual capacity expansion at 127 gigawatts. Here’s a snapshot of solar power capacity by country.
-
Batteries4 years ago
Visualizing Copper’s Role in the Transition to Clean Energy
A clean energy transition is underway as wind, solar, and batteries take center stage. Here’s how copper plays the critical role in these technologies.
-
Mining4 years ago
Everything You Need to Know on VMS Deposits
Deep below the ocean’s waves, VMS deposits spew out massive amounts of minerals like copper, zinc, and gold, making them a key source of the metals…
-
Copper5 years ago
How Much Copper is in an Electric Vehicle?
Have you ever wondered how much copper is in an electric vehicle? This infographic shows the metal’s properties as well as the quantity of copper used.
-
Copper5 years ago
Copper: Driving the Green Energy Revolution
Renewable energy is set to fuel a new era of copper demand – here’s how much copper is used in green applications from EVs to photovoltaics.
-
Markets17 hours ago
Mapped: The Growth in House Prices by Country
-
Technology2 weeks ago
Ranked: The World’s Top 25 Websites in 2023
-
Misc15 hours ago
Visualized: The 4 Billion Year Path of Human Evolution
-
Cities4 weeks ago
Ranked: Top 10 Cities Where International Travelers Spend the Most
-
AI2 weeks ago
Visualizing the Top U.S. States for AI Jobs
-
VC+4 weeks ago
Coming Soon: Here’s What’s Coming to VC+ Next
-
Maps2 weeks ago
Mapped: Renewable Energy and Battery Installations in the U.S. in 2023
-
Demographics4 weeks ago
Visualizing the American Workforce as 100 People