I went to a Melbourne Mining Club luncheon where the CEO of MMG discussed development and investment in mines - in particular, the major copper projects they were working on. Las Bambas (Glencore, then MMG) being the project I was working on at the time
He said you cannot develop a mine with one eye on the current economic conditions - they take so long to be completed that you'll probably go through one or two market downturns before you get to production. All you can do is focus on are the long term market demands for the mineral or metal you are mining and develop to meet those projected demands accordingly.
The market for copper now at historic highs - sure there was a peak 20% higher a couple of years back, but look at the 45 year chart. Circa $4.00USD per pound is still on the uptrend that has been in place for the last 20 years or so. And we know that demand for Copper is only going to increase with the advent of EVs, renewable technologies and electrification of technologies that current rely on fossil fuels (how much copper is needed in an induction furnace?
EM2 Price at posting:
12.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
