- Write by:
-
Tuesday, November 13, 2018 - 12:31:20 PM
-
1534 Visit
-
Print
Mining News Pro - A tight copper market may be set to get a lot tighter, if a report this week from the world’s biggest miner of the metal is any indication.
According to Mining News Pro -A tight copper market may be set to get a lot tighter, if a report this week from the world’s biggest miner of the metal is any indication.
Santiago-based Codelco posted the lowest quarterly copper production this year in the third quarter, according to Chile copper agency Cochilco. The company reported declines across all of its mines in September as ore grades fell an average of 5% in the first nine months of the year.
The decline in ore grades compounds supply troubles after a commodities price slump that ended in 2016 made miners skittish about expanding their operations in Chile, the world’s largest copper supplier. At the same time, mounting trade tensions are prompting mining companies to delay big expansion projects amid uncertainty about the outlook for demand.
The International Copper Study Group forecasts a production deficit of 90,000 tonnes this year, more than double the shortfall forecast in April. Lower grades were partly offset by a 2% increase in metal recovery, but output for the first nine months of the year was still 41,000 tons lower than in 2017, Codelco said in an emailed response to questions.
“Companies need to cover themselves and generate investment programs to expand their capacity and mitigate the ore grade decline,” Cesar Perez-Novoa, an analyst at BTG Pactual in Santiago, said by phone on Thursday. “Otherwise, the depletion of resources over the next ten years will be high.”
Codelco is investing $36 billion over the next ten years to upgrade its aging mines to compensate for the decline in copper grades and to maintain production levels, Perez-Novoa said.
Short Link:
https://www.miningnews.ir/En/News/298099
Top copper producer Codelco reported a decline in quarterly output due to lower quality ore at its aging Chilean mines — ...
Brazil’s Corumba region could more than double iron ore shipments through neighboring Uruguay this year if there is ...
BHP Group Ltd.’s proposal for a $39 billion takeover of rival Anglo American Plc is all about securing plenty of copper ...
When former boss Mark Cutifani left Anglo American Plc in mid-April 2022, things had rarely looked better for the ...
Chile President Gabriel Boric said on Thursday he is targeting an increase in the country’s annual copper output by 1 ...
Brazilian miner Vale SA sees no impact from BHP Group’s bid for Anglo American on the latter’s Minas-Rio project, its ...
Marex Group Plc and a group of the London-based firm’s shareholders raised about $292 million in a US initial public ...
Impala Platinum could cut 3,900 jobs as it restructures its South African operations due to lower metal prices, the ...
Australian Strategic Materials ASM.AX said on Friday it has received a non-binding letter of interest for a debt funding ...
No comments have been posted yet ...