Could be supply v demand, could be some smart cookie like Soros has discovered an arbitrage play on the global scale that doesn't bite back.... Futures v current v short volumes? or a play on Copper financing? who knows.
To add further to the big picture:
March futures are up, but doubt over longevity (after gold, brokers would be mad to be overconfident on bullish outlook): http://www.cnbc.com/id/101288046
From Karvey commodity brokers 16Dec:
C'mon Wayno, get cash flows going while it's gangbusters on price, we all know mining is cyclic.....
I have a sense that we'll see a positive announcement next week (pure speculation on late fri volumes)....
hopefully it's not a nasty like this with Al: Helpful in the short term, but longer term could bite....