Chile’s Codelco plans environmental impact pricing for copper (MiningWeekly.com/Reuters – November 30, 2017)

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SHANGHAI – Chile’s Codelco will soon sell its first copper cathodes with pricing that takes into account the environmental footprint of production, its chairman said on Thursday.

The plan would mark a stark change from the traditional pricing model for copper producers where the quality of metal is the price differentiator for what is otherwise a standardized product.

Under the scheme, customers would pay different prices for copper depending on the carbon footprint or impact on a local community of its production. The move echoes steps taken by the palm oil industry to establish a sustainable supply chain to address a tarnished environmental reputation.

State-run Codelco is currently negotiating with a team of customers – a trader, a wire producer and a final copper product producer – to establish a traceable system of certified copper, Oscar Landerretche told the Asia Copper Conference in Shanghai.

The initiative, known in English as Responsible, Sustainable and Traceable Copper, could be dubbed “feng shui copper” in Chinese, Landerretche said, explaining that it was needed because of the “over commercial” nature of today’s economy.

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