Fewer new copper discoveries could lead to significant long term global shortages says a new report.
S&P Global Market Intelligence says “only 140 million significant tonnes of copper were discovered in the last 10 years, a dramatic reduction on the 18-year period before the past decade.”
The report found that “only 29 significant discoveries were made worldwide in the last decade, compared to 191 made in 1990 to 2007.” An 83% drop in major copper discoveries in other words
The fault is not due to flagging exploration budgets according to S&P. While spending on exploration is below its 2012 peak, it’s still at “historically high levels”.
The problem, says S&P, is less grassroots exploration in the decade up to 2017 and fewer big discoveries at the early or more risky stages. The report also suggests junior explorers are focusing more on expanding established deposits while bigger players are exploring at their existing operations.
S&P is predicting a 105 million tonne or 75% increase in the volume of discoveries for the decade starting in 2018. However the lower level of new deposits will begin to kick in 15 to 20 years from now unless major new discoveries are made.
Chile and Peru are driving new copper exploration so far, but Australian miners are also becoming increasingly active.
More detail: https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/research/world-mining-exploration-trends-report-2018