US based gold miner Newmont said recently that the every project in the company’s project pipeline is a copper one, adding the future “is all copper”.
Newmont Chief Executive, Tom Palmer, told the Australian media that global demand for copper would drive “tectonic” opportunities across the mining industry, “empowering companies to either build copper mines or buy them.”
Newmont may have bought Newcrest—a top Australian gold producer—for $26B last year to become the world’s biggest gold miner, but the company has begun talking up copper as the red metal’s fortunes continue to soar on fears of a world deficit.
Newmont currently has about 10% of copper in its overall output, but says the 150,000 tons it represents is likely to grow going forward. Mr Palmer speculated that the company could hit 20% copper or even higher, saying the Newcrest purchase alone added 14B pounds of copper reserves.
One avenue is organic. Not only by developing its own assets in Ghana, Papua New Guinea and Canada, but also by boosting its already robust exploration program.
Joint ventures could be another. Newmont recently said it would consider a joint venture with BHP to exploit its significant copper reserves, but it says its open to all opportunities—“Whether that’s BHP or other mining companies, that is an important part of how we look at developing that project pipeline,” Mr Palmer was reported as saying.
And what can only be taken as its copper commitment, Newmont joined the International Copper Association in February.
