Hudbay in talks to draw partner for Arizona copper project

The Canadian company is looking to either sell a minority stake or form a joint venture to help finance its Copper World project in the second half of 2024, chief financial officer Eugene Lei said in an interview Thursday. He said Hudbay has already received strong interest from Japanese trading houses, copper majors and gold producers.

“We’ve been advancing relationships and discussions without officially launching a process,” Lei said, without identifying company names.

Mining companies have zeroed in on Arizona, a longtime hub for copper production, to develop projects to meet domestic demand for the widely used wiring metal.

Rio Tinto Group has sought to develop its Resolution project east of Phoenix since 2008. Robert Friedland’s Ivanhoe Electric Inc. owns a deposit in Arizona that has backing from BHP Group Ltd. and Saudi Arabia’s state-owned mining division. Meanwhile, top gold producers such as Newmont Corp. and Barrick Gold Corp. have indicated interest in adding more copper to their output.

Copper World is about 160 miles (257 kilometers) northwest of Phoenix. Hudbay estimates the project could yield 85,000 metric tons of copper per year when developed, with an expected mine life of 20 years.

“There’s very strong interest from Japanese trading houses and smelters for a traditional minority piece, which would allow us to build the project with a lower capital outlay and a strong long-term partner,” Lei said, adding that Hudbay is seeing “equally strong interest from strategics and gold companies.”