Copper mining has become an especially capital-intensive industry – the average capital intensity for a new copper mine in 2000 was between US$4,000-5,000 to build the capacity to produce a tonne of copper, in 2012 capital intensity was $10,000/t, on average, for new projects. Today, building a new copper mine can cost up to $44,000 per tonne of production, an AOTH analysis has found.
CYM's capital intensity less than 2012 prices due to existing infrastructure. Capital intensity is capex per tonne of copper. US$172.8m (250m Aud) / 25ktpa equals a capital intensity of $6,912. One of the lowest capital intensive projects around. Perfect for a company who is lacking the economy of scale of some of the other projects listed.
I recommend these two articles
July 20, 2022
https://aheadoftheherd.com/copper-mines-becoming-more-capital-intensive-and-costly-to-run/
some of the big copper projects are 5 billion to 12b in capex.
opex of copper mines
In a March 2022 report, Bank of America said the costs of a number of key inputs have risen dramatically from their 2020 pandemic lows. They include a 350% increase in the cost of fuel, a more than 600% rise in sulfuric acid in Chile, a 300% increase in steel and a 400% increase in spot LNG in Europe.
touches a bit on Chile with lower grades accessing sulfide ore to boost production.
we all know the talk around water rights in Chile atm not to mention nationalization.
There is some very good info on the above link. I won't go into detail as it is all very easy to digest.
below is another article from a couple of months ago
https://aheadoftheherd.com/8-escondidas-needed-over-the-next-eight-years/
It has some very good analysis. Also shows you the extent of offtakers and how much supply is locked in for the likes of China, Korea and Japan. In a world where every country is now hoping to decarbonize this will also limit the supply side. America, Europe and other western parts of the world will only have access to around half of what they is global supply.
"Speaking at the 2022 World Copper Conference in Santiago, Chile, CRU’s Erik Heimlich said that eight projects the size of Escondida are needed over the next eight years — a task that is more “possible” than “probable” given the scale of the developments required and the fact that about half of the projects in the pipeline are greenfield, i.e., new mines."
keep in mind Escondida is bigger than the 2nd and 3rd biggest mines combined.
(20min delay)