Copper – Page 42 – Republic of Mining

Ivanhoe’s Friedland hits out at ‘fiction’ that mining copper in Chile is safer than Congo – by Brendan Ryan (MiningMX.com – February 11, 2020)

February 11, 2020

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BILLIONAIRE mining entrepreneur, Robert Friedland, put the boot into Chile and its established major copper mining groups.

Friedland, whose company Ivanhoe Mines is developing major new copper and zinc mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), said at the Mining Indaba last week: “It’s absolutely silly to think that Chile is a safe place to mine and should have a three or four per cent discount rate and, somehow, the DRC should have a 12% discount rate.

“There’s this fiction that somehow Africa is dangerous and it’s safe for industry to go to Chile or Peru. I challenge that. I would rather be in Africa – in the DRC – which was the world’s largest producer of copper until Chile got invented in the 1970’s.”

BHP tries to delay China shipments due to virus – by Sarah Danckert and Nick Toscano (Brisbane Times – February 9, 2020)

February 10, 2020

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/

BHP Group is starting to feel the impact of the coronavirus on its business with the mining giant in talks with its Chinese customers to delay shipments of copper concentrate as plants are shutdown around the nation.

BHP confirmed on Sunday that it is working with its customers in China to stem the impact of the virus on its exports after importers in China were offered force majeure certificates by the country’s international trade promotion agency.

In response, suppliers are considering giving buyers in China flexibility on deliveries to discourage them from declaring force majeure, offering them a way out of contractual obligations.

Chile’s copper output down in 2019 on declining grades – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – February 10, 2020)

February 10, 2020

https://www.mining.com/

Copper production in 2019 in Chile, the world’s No. 1 producer of the metal, dropped by 44,000 tonnes compared to 2018, amid a perfect storm of falling ore grades at the largest deposits, water scarcity and operational issues.

Cochilco, the country’s copper commission, said Codelco, the state-owned giant, was the miner most affected by aging mines as its production declined by 5.6% in 2019 to about 100,000 tonnes.

The impact of such a fall at a national level was offset by results at other mines, such as Barrick’s Zaldívar, Lundin’s Candelaria and Antofagasta’s Centinela.

Barrick Gold denies Freeport-McMoran tie-up in the works – by Helen Reid (Reuters U.S. – February 6, 2020)

February 6, 2020

https://www.reuters.com/

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – Barrick Gold is not looking to merge with copper miner Freeport-McMoran, CEO Mark Bristow said on Thursday, although he is interested in the company’s Grasberg mine in Indonesia, and indicated he wants to expand in the Pacific Rim.

Rumors the world’s second-largest gold miner planned to combine with Freeport are “completely wrong”, Bristow told Reuters on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town.

But he said he was interested in Freeport’s Grasberg mine in Indonesia – the world’s largest gold mine, and second-largest copper mine. “People say, are you interested in Grasberg? I say I have to be, it’s a tier one asset,” he said. Tier one assets refer to high-grade, long-life mines.

Bill to ban copper-nickel mining draws sharp contrast between Boundary Waters, Iron Range – by Dan Kraker (Minnesota Public Radio News – February 6, 2020)

February 6, 2020

https://www.mprnews.org/

A bill that would ban copper-nickel mining on a huge swath of federal land near the Boundary Waters got its first hearing in Congress Wednesday in Washington.

But the fight over the legislation — and what it stands for — got underway on Minnesota’s Iron Range last week, in a packed union hall in the city of Virginia. “I am tired of the Iron Range having to endure these attacks on our way of life,” Pete Stauber, the Republican congressman who represents the region, told the crowd.

When Stauber says “our way of life,” he means mining. Iron ore mines have operated for well over a century in northeastern Minnesota. There are fourth-generation miners working there today, descendants of immigrants who mined the ore that made the steel that helped win world wars.

UPDATE 1-China Feb copper output to fall on virus woes, zinc backlog builds – Antaike – by Tom Daly (Reuters U.S. – February 5, 2020)

February 6, 2020

https://www.reuters.com/

BEIJING, Feb 5 (Reuters) – China’s copper smelters will reduce output by more than 15% in February from last month due to the coronavirus outbreak, research house Antaike said, warning zinc production could also drop if transport restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the disease are not eased soon.

Base metal prices slumped last week as the number of coronavirus deaths and infections rose, spurring fears the outbreak will reduce economic activity and metals demand in China, the world’s biggest copper and zinc consumer.

The death toll in China rose to 490 on Wednesday. Weak downstream demand, high inventories of sulphuric acid and logistical problems mean it is inevitable there will be some reduction in copper output this month, Antaike said in a note late on Tuesday, adding its estimate of more than 15% was conservative and March output may also be affected.

Ivanhoe’s giant Kamoa-Kakula copper project in DRC keeps getting bigger – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – February 5, 2020)

February 5, 2020

https://www.mining.com/

Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN) has unveiled a fresh set of mind-boggling figures from its flagship copper project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, confirming that the already large asset has room to grow.

The updated mineral resource estimate (MRE) puts the combined Kamoa-Kakula project at 423 million tonnes grading 4.68% copper, at a 3% cut off. Indicated mineral resource, in turn, now stands at 1.4 billion tonnes grading 2.7% copper, at a 1% cut-off.

The 400 km2 mining concession comprises two large, near-surface, flat-lying, stratiform copper deposits. One of them, Kakula, is being fast-tracked to commercial production, with the initial 3.8-million-tonne-a-year mining operation scheduled to produce first concentrate in the third quarter of 2021.

Column: Nickel and copper are bull stand-outs in base metals poll – by Andy Home (Reuters U.K. – January 30, 2020)

January 31, 2020

https://www.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – Nickel and copper are the bull stand-outs in the latest Reuters poll of base metals analysts, with both set to rise in price over the next two years thanks to supply constraints and expected market deficits.

All the other base metals are expected to fall in price this year at least, with zinc and lead set to underperform over the next two years as those markets transition from supply shortfall to surplus.

Supply is the clear differentiator in the poll findings. Demand is widely expected to recover from the synchronised weakness of 2019. Or at least it was.

All of Chile’s copper mines to run in ‘extremely high water-stressed’ areas by 2040 – by Michael McCrae (Kitco.com – January 29, 2020)

January 30, 2020

https://www.kitco.com/

Between 30 to 50 percent of production for copper, gold, iron ore, and zinc is concentrated in areas where water stress is already high, reported McKinsey in a recent study looking at climate change and miners.

With climate change, the consultancy warned that water shortages will get worse for miners leading to social and technical challenges. “In Chile, 80 percent of copper production is already located in extremely high water-stressed and arid areas; by 2040, it will be 100 percent.

In Russia, 40 percent of the nation’s iron ore production, currently located in high water-stressed areas, is likely to move to extreme water stress by 2040,” writes the study’s authors.

OPINION EXCHANGE: Counterpoint: Why a green world will need more copper – by Ryan Sistad (Minneapolis Star Tribune – January 29, 2020)

January 30, 2020

http://www.startribune.com/

Ryan Sistad, of Duluth, is outreach coordinator for Better in Our Backyard. https://www.betterinourbackyard.com/

Supply and demand are subject to change — unpredictable change in policies or in the marketplace — which makes it incredibly important to have a plan in place to supply our economy with what it needs to grow and thrive.

When it comes to transitioning to a reduced-carbon or carbon-free energy economy, Minnesota is truly faced with this new supply and demand challenge. All of this makes the question asked Jan. 23 in “We don’t need more mining to go green” confusing.

The author asks: “[I]s it actually urgent to pull more copper and nickel out of the ground?” He then claims that in debates over mining copper and nickel in Minnesota “what goes largely undiscussed are the actual supply and demand forces around primary copper and nickel.”

Freeport CEO ‘looking forward’ to deals once expansion projects done – by Ernest Scheyder (Reuters Canada – January 28, 2020)

January 29, 2020

https://ca.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Freeport-McMoran Inc (FCX.N), the world’s largest publicly traded copper producer, would consider acquisitions, mergers or other deals once three ongoing expansion projects finish by 2022, Chief Executive Richard Adkerson said in an interview on Tuesday.

Demand for copper is projected to surge this decade because of the rising popularity of electric vehicles, which use twice as much copper as internal combustion engines. That, in turn, is expected to fuel an M&A wave across the sector.

Despite that, Phoenix, Arizona-based Freeport’s shares are worth half what they were in 2010, dragged down by uncertainty over the company’s stake in a major Indonesian mine and debt from an ill-fated oil and gas venture.

Column: Copper crashes as virus chills the China recovery story – by Andy Home (Reuters U.K. – Janaury 28, 2020)

January 28, 2020

https://uk.reuters.com/

LONDON (Reuters) – The outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan has hit industrial metals hard. The London Metal Exchange’s (LME) index of base metal prices has plunged 7% since the first reports of the virus started dominating the headlines just over a week ago.

Copper has been savaged. LME copper has slumped 10% from a Jan. 16 high of $6,343 per tonne to a current $5,715, wiping out all the gains made since the start of December. It is now trading near lows last seen in October.

The slump has been accentuated by the loss of liquidity from Chinese markets, closed for the Lunar New Year holidays. The LME chart picture shows copper “gapping” lower over the weekend, an increasingly rare phenomenon for a globally-traded commodity.

[Bougainville/Copper] The Horse Breeder, the Novelist and the $60 Billion Mine – by Aaron Clark (Financial Post/Bloomberg – January 27, 2020)

January 28, 2020

https://business.financialpost.com/

(Bloomberg) — Australia has some big decisions to make about its future. For insight into the stories that matter, sign up for our new weekly newsletter.

John Kuhns has been many things: an investment banker, a silicon smelter operator in China and a novelist. His sights are now set on an abandoned mine with an estimated $60 billion of gold and copper.

Kuhns is among a handful of people exploring for minerals and courting landowners on the Pacific island of Bougainville. His rivals include an Arabian-horse breeder, a hedge fund investment manager who keeps wallabies on his estate and a former Australian defense minister.

Chile’s Codelco seeks approvals to explore for lithium at Maricunga (Reuters U.S. – January 24, 2020)

January 24, 2020

https://www.reuters.com/

SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Chile state miner Codelco filed with regulators on Friday a plan to begin exploration for lithium in its Maricunga salt flat holdings, a key step in advancing development of the country’s second richest deposit of the metal needed for batteries.

The proposal, if approved, would allow Codelco, the world’s top producer of copper, to pinpoint concentrations of lithium on the flat, estimate the size of the resource and identify necessary next steps. The state-owned miner hopes to explore for as many as 10 months, the company said in a statement.

Codelco has for years talked of getting into the lithium business. But the cash-strapped miner has repeatedly delayed plans to develop its reserves to concentrate on copper, its primary business.

Freeport Looks Poised to Turn Corner After Five-Year Bumpy Road – by Danielle Bochove (Bloomberg News – January 22, 2020)

January 23, 2020

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — It’s been a rough haul for Freeport-McMoRan Inc., but the future may be looking up.

In the past five years, the world’s largest publicly traded copper miner was forced to sell assets and shares to manage debt as it weathered fall-out from the collapse of the commodity super cycle. It emerged from multiyear talks over its Indonesian mine to secure long-term rights, and hung on as production at the flagship operation tumbled during the switch from open pit to underground mining.

And in the past year, it has been buffeted by global trade winds and hit by crossfire from demonstrations against a competitor in Peru.