TORONTO, Oct 30 (Reuters) – In the race to secure copper for the clean energy transition and artificial intelligence applications, a range of companies are firing up abandoned assets once seen as financial liabilities to fast-track significant volumes of supply.
The call for copper is poised to surge in coming years due to its role in electric vehicles, renewable energy and data centers for artificial intelligence. Demand is expected to outstrip supply by 1.7% in 2035, and copper prices have scaled record highs this year.
So companies are looking to revitalize older mines. Typically, it takes at least 10 years and as much as $5 billion to build a copper mine from scratch. Once companies raise capital there are other challenges. Local communities have opposed mining projects from Panama to Serbia.
A Reuters analysis of at least four shuttered copper mines in the process of being restarted shows their owners trying to open a speedier pathway to supply around 7 million metric tons of metal in the next five years, adding to 30 million tons of output expected by 2031.
For the rest of this article: https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/abandoned-copper-mines-embraced-fast-track-boost-output-2024-10-30/