(Bloomberg) — Copper producer Hudbay Minerals Inc. is having informal talks with prospective partners to develop a deposit in Arizona as the mining industry pushes to bolster North America’s supply of key metals.
The Canadian company is looking to either sell a minority stake or form a joint venture to help finance its Copper World project in the second half of 2024, Chief Financial Officer Eugene Lei said in an interview Thursday.
He said Hudbay has already received strong interest from Japanese trading houses, copper majors and gold producers.“We’ve been advancing relationships and discussions without officially launching a process,” Lei said, without identifying company names.
Mining companies have zeroed in on Arizona, a longtime hub for copper production, to develop projects to meet domestic demand for the widely used wiring metal. Rio Tinto Group has sought to develop its Resolution project east of Phoenix since 2008.
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