The world is heading for a serious copper shortage in about 10 years — new mines can't keep up with demand from EVs, AI, and power lines. But there's a huge amount of copper you don't have to dig for at all: it's buried in old wiring, EV motors, and circuit boards, millions of tons of it reaching end of life. Copper recycles 100% with no loss of quality, and remelting scrap uses about 85% less energy than smelting from ore. This is the story of the “urban mine” — the business that turns metal waste back into pure copper, and is becoming the second pillar of the world's copper supply.