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Copper

Metals security of supply depends on junior resource companies – by Rick Mills (Ahead of the Herd/Mining.com – September 19, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

A junior resource company’s place in the food chain is to acquire projects, make discoveries and hopefully advance them to the point when a larger mining company takes it over. Discoveries won’t be made if juniors don’t have boots on the ground, if they aren’t out in the bush poking around and breaking rocks.

Few exploration companies have the money or technical expertise to “go mining”. For many, the goal is to find a deposit that’s good enough to attract a major who will acquire the asset. Another pathway is for the junior to partner with a larger company. An option or joint venture (JV) agreement is a way for juniors to gain access to the financial and technical resources needed to build the mine.

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OPINION: Canada’s mine decision was no rubber stamp – by R. Brent Murphy (Anchorage Daily News – September 23, 2024)

https://www.adn.com/

R. Brent Murphy is senior vice president for environmental affairs at Seabridge Gold.

Having spent my entire career at the intersection of mining and sustainability, I have grown accustomed to the widespread misinformation surrounding our industry. Unfortunately, it’s a reality my colleagues and I face daily on a global scale, and if we responded to every instance, we would have little time left for the work that truly matters.

However, the sheer level of inaccuracy and hypocrisy regarding the Substantially Started Determination, or SSD, status for our proposed KSM project in Brian Lynch’s recent commentary demands a response. First and foremost, Lynch’s commentary failed to acknowledge several key facts regarding our two decades of dedicated efforts and nearly CAD $1 billion of investments to responsibly advance the KSM Project.

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A Copper M&A Frenzy Masks Big Miners’ Hesitation to Build – by Paul-Alain Hunt (Bloomberg News – September 19, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — In the dusty, treeless outback of Southern Australia, a brand new mining camp is home to a hundred workers, putting in 12-hour days, two weeks at a time. Dozens of trucks are scattered across the vast acreage, mounted with towering rigs drilling more than 2 kilometers (1.3 miles) underground. All are focused on the hunt for one of the world’s most coveted minerals: copper.

Oak Dam, discovered by BHP Group geologists in 2018, is a glimmer of hope for Chief Executive Mike Henry, who sees global copper demand doubling over the coming decades as the energy transition takes hold, and wants his company to produce more of it.

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Osisko Metals seeks financing partner on huge Gaspé copper project in Quebec – by Colin McClelland (Northern Miner – September 19, 2024)

https://www.northernminer.com/

Osisko Metals (TSXV: OM; US-OTC: OMZNE) is advancing the giant Gaspé copper project in Quebec with an economic study planned for February amid efforts to land a 20% partnership with provincial financing agency Investissement Québec.

“No promises, but they’re interested in the project, and for us it would be ideal to get IQ as a partner,” CEO and chairman Robert Wares said in an interview. “That would be a big boost, and as partners obviously they can help us fund the whole project to a final investment decision.”

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Arizona’s battle over crucial copper mine poised to sway US election – by Ernest Scheyder (Reuters – September 13, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

Sept 12 (Reuters) – Native American opposition to Rio Tinto and BHP’s Resolution Copper mine could prove crucial for the 2024 U.S. presidential vote in the battleground state of Arizona, underscoring the high tension over where best to extract critical minerals for the energy transition.

The mine would, if built, supply more than a quarter of America’s appetite for copper and be a key part of Washington’s efforts to eat into China’s role as the world’s largest copper processor and consumer.

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Indigenous Group Takes Fight Against Rio Tinto Arizona Copper Mine to US Supreme Court – by Ernest Scheyder (U.S. News/Reuters – September 11, 2024)

https://www.usnews.com/

Apache Stronghold, a nonprofit group comprised of Arizona’s San Carlos Apache tribe and conservationists, asked the court to overturn a March ruling from a sharply divided San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowing the federal government to swap acreage with the mining companies for their Resolution Copper project.

The appeal to the nine justices was delivered in person by a courier after the Apache held a ceremony of prayer and dancing on the court’s steps in Washington, the culmination of a months-long caravan from their Arizona reservation to the capital.

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CHART: Codelco’s QB stake may not be enough to stop BHP taking copper crown – by Frik Els (Mining.com – September 4, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Chile’s state-run miner Codelco on Tuesday made a $500 million offer to buy a 10% stake in the Quebrada Blanca copper mine, controlled by Canada’s Teck Resources, from Enami, another Chilean state miner.

Quebrada Blanca’s expansion – QB2 – is ramping up with a target set by Teck of 285,000 – 315,000 tonnes of annual production by 2026. QB2 reached production of 51,300 tonnes in the second quarter this year, up more than 18% from Q1.

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US Sees Bipartisan Backing for Africa Critical Minerals Plan – by Matthew Hill (Bloomberg News – August 28, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — A senior US State Department official reassured African governments that an initiative to help counter China’s influence through developing infrastructure on the continent will continue even after a change in administration.

The flagship of the plan — a railway project known as the Lobito corridor that connects copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo to an Atlantic port in Angola — is already far advanced, Helaina Matza, acting special coordinator for the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, told reporters on Wednesday.

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Mining bosses issue M&A warning as forecasts of dealmaking boom mount – by Harry Dempsey (Financial Times – August 25, 2024)

https://www.ft.com/

Companies want commodities critical for clean energy such as copper that could drive deals

Mining bosses have warned against plunging into the mergers and acquisitions market and repeating mistakes of the past as forecasts mount that the industry is on the verge of a dealmaking boom.

Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm was the most outspoken as he hinted at the experience of his predecessor Tom Albanese, who was ousted from the top job in 2013 after an ill-fated acquisition.

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Scramble for Critical Minerals Spurs an African Rail Revival – by Matthew Hill (Bloomberg News – August 24, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Southern Africa’s railways are suddenly getting global attention and attracting billions of dollars in investment, with a race to secure copper supplies needed for the energy transition at its center.

From Angola on the continent’s west coast to Tanzanian on the east, governments and investors are readying to revive decades-old rail lines that have fallen into disrepair and build new ones. Much of the new demand for freight comes from the central African copperbelt that Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo share.

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China’s rare copper export boom signals more than weak demand – by Andy Home (Reuters – August 20, 2024)

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON, Aug 20 (Reuters) – A rare burst of Chinese exports has deflated bull spirits in the copper market, with funds dumping long positions and prices down by 16% from the record highs seen in May. The world’s largest buyer of copper shipped out an unprecedented 158,000 metric tons of refined metal in June. First-half exports of 302,000 tons were already higher than any full calendar year since 2019.

This break of normal trade patterns has punctured a bull narrative of constrained supply and cyclical demand recovery. Weak Chinese purchasing managers indices show that activity in the country’s manufacturing sector sank to a five-month low in July, reinforcing Doctor Copper’s gloomy message.

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A trip to El Teniente, the largest underground copper mine in the world – by María Victoria Agouborde (English El Pais – August 16, 2024)

https://english.elpais.com/

The red metal deposit located in the Chilean region of O’Higgins, which is controlled by the state copper company Codelco, is moving towards green mining: it reuses tires and uses 100% electric buses

Just over 30 miles east of the city of Rancagua, in the O’Higgins Region in central Chile, after traveling a zigzagging road with the semi-white hills of the Andes mountain range as a backdrop, you reach El Teniente, the largest underground copper deposit on the planet. The mine, which has 2,800 miles of underground tunnels, is controlled by the state copper company Codelco, the largest copper supplier in the world.

From the surface, with wind blowing relentlessly, it is difficult to imagine the bustling world under the 2,200-meter-high hill, which began to be mined in 1905. From El Teniente, around 350,000 fine metric tons (ft) of copper are mined each year: it is the Codelco division that provides the largest contribution of the red metal.

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Replacing China in copper supply chain is ‘unfeasible,’ warns WoodMac, as the West seeks shift – by Dylan Butts (CNBC.com – August 16 2024)

https://www.cnbc.com/

Western countries seeking to diversify away from China’s dominance in copper could delay the energy transition besides raising costs, while its complete replacement would be ‘unfeasible,’ according to Wood Mackenzie. China leads the world in key segments of the copper supply chain, with the critical metal serving as an important component in emerging technologies such as renewable energy, energy storage and electric vehicles.

As the U.S., Canada, Australia, and European countries seek to displace the country’s hold on copper through subsidies and investment, Wood Mackenzie warns that the dual aims of decarbonization and reduced dependence on Beijing are at odds with one another.

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Chinalco Is Said to Eye Stake in Biggest Philippine Copper Mine – by Pei Li, Cliff Venzon and Elffie Chew (Bloomberg News – August 16, 2024)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Aluminum Corp. of China is considering investing in what is set to be the Philippines’ largest gold and copper mine as part of its efforts to boost its global footprint, according to people familiar with the matter.

The state-run Chinese company known as Chinalco may acquire a stake worth around $2 billion in Indophil Resources Phils. Inc., which owns Sagittarius Mines Inc., the people said, asking not to be identified because discussions are private.

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BHP, Lundin grab Filo in $3bn South American copper deal – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – July 30, 2024)

https://www.mining.com/

Mining giant BHP (ASX, NYSE: BHP) and Canada’s Lundin Mining (TSX: LUN) have teamed up to acquire South America-focused Filo Corp. (TSX: FIL), in a $3 billion (C$4.1bn) deal that hands them key copper assets in Chile and Argentina.

BHP and Lundin are forming a 50/50 joint venture that will have full ownership of the Filo del Sol prospect, which is located near the copper-rich Atacama Desert, straddling the border between Argentina and Chile. The partners will also own the large-scale Josemaría copper-gold-silver project, in the San Juan Province of Argentina, about 9 km east of the border with Chile.

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