I read this article today which was emailed to me in one of...

I read this article today which was emailed to me in one of those mining newsletters. It goes over some of the ground Ash covered but there's some other useful content too:

https://www.australianresourcesandinvestment.com.au/2023/05/02/south32-spotlights-emerging-copper-jurisdiction/

Australian Resources & Investment

Commodities, Copper, Exploration/Development, News

South32 spotlights emerging copper jurisdiction

TOM PARKER

South32 copper

South32 chief executive officer Graham Kerr has highlighted three commodities driving the company’s M&A strategy and shed light on a potential new copper hotspot.

Kerr said copper, zinc and nickel were the minerals South32 likes the most when it comes to growing the company inorganically, with strong demand outlooks for each base metal.

There are also pricing dynamics at play.

“What you’re seeing at the moment in lithium is scarcity pricing, and you’ve kind of seen scarcity pricing a little bit in met coal and energy coal, where the crisis pushes the prices really high,” Kerr told reporters at a Melbourne Mining Club luncheon late last week.

Kerr said that while we haven’t seen scarcity pricing in copper and zinc yet, there was potential for price flare ups in the coming 5–10 years.

South32 currently produces copper from its 45 per cent stake in the Sierra Gorda mine in Chile, with zinc produced from the company’s Cannington mine in Queensland.

The company also has a series of earn-in agreements with resource companies around the world. This includes two emerging copper exploration projects in Argentina – Chita Valley and Don Julio.

South32 recently exercised its earn-in right to acquire a 50.1 per cent interest in the Chita Valley project following a three-year exploration partnership with Minsud Resources Corp.

The major miner signed an earn-in agreement with Sable Resources to explore Don Julio in 2021, with drilling advancing at the project.

Kerr said Argentina could be a copper jurisdiction to keep an eye on in years to come.

“Argentina’s become an interesting location,” he said. “When we first started doing some work there, we were probably the only ones. You’ve got BHP there, you’ve got Barrick there, you’ve Glencore there – everyone’s sort of pouring money into that jurisdiction at the moment.

“If you look at where it is, it’s on the other side of the Chile mountains where basically all the copper is. So I think that’s an area that’s going to develop pretty quickly. The challenge around that jurisdiction is it tends to be on average higher levels of arsenic, which typically you blend out, or you look at new technology to remove it.”

South32 also has its Hermosa and Ambler Metals projects in the US, which both have the potential to produce copper and zinc in the future.

Through its suite of operations and exploration projects across the world, it’s safe to say South32 has plenty of growth avenues to be part of the world’s decarbonisation narrative in the years to come.