China Copper

Jiangxi Copper Group's new copper smelting project will produce 300,000 tons of copper cathode per year, and is due to start up in August 2007. Jiangxi officials said this huge smelter will not affect the copper market, because all of the copper will be used internally in China.

Copper for the smelter will primarily come from imported copper concentrate and scrap copper to supply the 300,000-tonne crude copper line. Copper concentrate for will be mainly sourced from Chile, Mongolia and Indonesia.

China's copper smelting capacity will reach between 3.2 million and 3.3 million tons this year, and copper prices will fluctuate around current levels in the near future. The August copper delivery price in Shanghai was 8,341) per ton (July 5, 2007).

(April 27,2007)

The copper output this year (2007) is projected to be 17,820,000 tons from global mining operations. Although global economies are slowing (except for China, growing at 11%/Year), 2007 is projected to be another good year for copper. At the current $3.65/pound for copper, it is at historic levels, and will probably not change much during 2007. The 1,342,000 tons of copper produced in the US (Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana) is at the highest production volume since 2001. Domestic copper use is projected to decline, due to the slump in the housing and construction industry, but strong global demand is expected to keep supplies tight and prices up for the remainder of the year.

Cerro Verde Expansion

The Cerro Verde porphyry copper mine in Arequipa is operated by Sociedad Minera Cerro Verde S.A.A., a Peruvian subsidiary of Phelps Dodge,is one of the world's largest producers of copper and molybdenum. Major ores mined are Chrysocolla, brochantite, chalcocite and chalcopyrite. The mine is currently undergoing a large expansion, as described in the Phelps Dodge Press Release.

"Cerro Verde is undergoing an $850 million expansion that will permit mining a primary sulfide ore body beneath the oxide ore body currently in production. Through the expansion, approximately 1 billion tons of sulfide ore reserves averaging 0.51 percent copper will be processed through a new concentrator. Mining of the sulfide ore body is expected to begin in late 2006. The expanded copper production rate should be achieved in the first half of 2007. Current copper production at Cerro Verde is approximately 100,000 tons per year. After the expansion, copper production initially will approximate 300,000 tons per year."

When this expansion is completed, later this year, it should help alleviate a little of the current copper shortage, but will not reflect upon pricing much, since demand is much larger than the 300,000 additional tons that will be supplied by the expansion project. 

Copper processing advancements continue to be made in heap leaching, allowing greater recoveries (up to 90%) at lower costs. More efficient methods of bringing the solution into contact with the copper ore, such as drip emitters, and more efficient heap leach pad designs will continue to improve the efficiency of copper producing companies.

Does aeration of the leach pad produce greater recoveries? After listening to some of the experts debate this, I came to the conclusion that there were as many saying no, as were saying yes.

Bio Oxidation and improved solvent extraction applied to copper production are also showing promise in increasing recoveries and efficiency, as well as experimentation with leach chemicals other than sulfuric acid (the most common copper leachent.)  

Domestic mine production in 2005 declined slightly to 1.15 million tons and was valued at about $4.3 billion. The principal mining States, in descending order, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico, accounted for 99% of domestic production; copper was also recovered at mines in four other States. (US Geologic Survey) Despite this production, 49% of copper used in the US in 2005 was imported. Globally, 14.9 million tons of copper were produced in 2005, (an increase of 2.6%) with estimated world copper reserves at 940 million tons. At current use levels, this would amount to 63 years of copper left on the planet. With developing countries demanding more copper each year, the annual consumption is bound to increase, though. So, in 20 years, will copper be selling for $500/pound? Will the future of copper mining be on Mars?

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