Investors will recall that some time back I posted the major miners have a lot of respect for one analyst in particular given he has worked in the industry, is forensic and obsessive about his research and invariably often on the money. That person is Paul Gait from Bernstein. Just to quickly recap, this is how he was described in Global Mining Observer.
“He has a masters in theoretical physics. He ran corporate finance for Anglo American. He has advised the Treasury. He has mapped the copper cycle over 246 years. He has plotted the monthly price movements of every metal on the LME since 1989. And he has built a data room using live satellite images to monitor iron ore cargoes at every major port in the world, to track weekly shipments, rather than wait for companies to report quarterly figures. Is Bernstein analyst Paul Gait the biggestbrain in mining?” For the record, I think he is as good an analyst you can get.
I’ve taken a couple of quotes on copper’s prospects generally from an recent article on Bloomberg, where Gait was quoted in relation to a more specific article on Robert Friedland’s Ivanhoe Mines. Here’s the paragraphs of interest from Gait in the article dated end of January 30 2017.
“Copper is the most strategically important commodity on the planet.”
Gait believes copper prices could hit $10,000 a ton within “a couple of years.”
I also still stick by my comments that investors have this quarter to jump on board or miss the AVB train. Should be a enlightening AGM this year.
