CHUQUICAMATA, Chile (Reuters) – The incoming chief executive of Chile’s state copper miner Codelco said he was “optimistic” about the long-term market price of copper despite the global volatility caused by the U.S.-China trade war.
“There is a lot of volatility at this moment because of everything that’s happening in the world, but we remain optimistic about the long-term outlook (of the copper price),” Octavio Araneda told journalists on Wednesday.
In April, Chile’s state copper commission Cochilco held its estimate for the price of copper at $3.05 per pound, rising to $3.08 for 2020 on improving prospects for growth in China.
Araneda was speaking at the official launch of Codelco’s Chuquicamata deposit as an underground mine, transformed from the world’s biggest open cast mine in a complex $5 billion-plus renovation.
The upgrade seeks to maintain production at the deposit of around 320,000 tonnes per year of fine copper and 16,000 tonnes of molybdenum.
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