Donald Trump’s return as US President promises a change in...

• Donald Trump’s return as US President promises a change in fortune for stalled US mine developments
• Key among them is Rio and BHP’s Resolution copper JV in Arizona
• Which other ASX explorers in the copper rich state could be in line to benefit?

Donald Trump’s return to the White House could result in better US business conditions for miners.

Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) and BHP (ASX:BHP) jointly hold the massive, but long-stalled, Resolution copper project in Arizona.

The project, which will take 10 years to build but could supply 25% of America’s copper, has been subject to legal challenges from local Native American groups over many years.

Days after the US election in November, Reuters quoted Rio chief commercial officer Bold Baatar as urging the new administration to speed up permitting for new mining projects.

Last month, Trump pledged to expedite permits and approvals for any person or company investing at least US$1 billion in the US.

In early December, Rio ‘s copper chief Katie Jackson told the company’s investor seminar it remained “very positive” on Resolution.

“We hope for clarity on the legal front, which will allow us to move forward more rapidly,” she said.

“However, of course, it remains a deep, very attractive orebody.

“But I think it is something that is going to take some work, both in terms of receiving all of the necessary permits, but also having the appropriate mine plan and engineering, so it will be a big development when it comes, but we remain very positive.”

Majors active in exploration

While Resolution isn’t a near-term prospect, regardless of expedited permits, both BHP and Rio are active elsewhere in Arizona.

In April 2023, BHP reported a new copper porphyry system called Ocelot, 140km east of Phoenix in the Miami-Globe copper district.

Ten of the 12 holes drilled by the company hit copper porphyry mineralisation, with results including 102m at 0.92% copper from 714m, 234m at 0.73% copper from 992m, and 502m at 0.8% copper from 787m.

In May 2024, BHP signed an exploration alliance agreement with Robert Friedland’s Ivanhoe Electric.

Under the agreement, the pair will explore mutually agreed areas of interest in the US, initially in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, to identify projects that could become 50:50 joint ventures.

BHP is funding an initial US$15 million of expenditure in the three-year alliance, while Ivanhoe will provide access to its Typhoon geophysical survey system and machine learning algorithmic software and data inversion.

On January 7, Ivanhoe reported the first Typhoon survey was underway in Arizona, the results of which will be used to define drill targets.

Meanwhile, a week later, Toronto-listed Intrepid Metals Corp announced that both Rio and Ivanhoe had separately acquired mineral rights immediately adjacent to its Corral copper project in Arizona.

Intrepid CEO Ken Engquist said it had signed confidentiality agreements with “four major strategics” which were active in the company’s data room and were in talks with others.

The interest bodes well for ASX-listed copper explorers in Arizona.