Engineering & Mining Journal

JUL 2013

Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr

Issue link: https://emj.epubxp.com/i/142836

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 71 of 91

C O P P E R O U T LO O K Source: CRU Strategies. Average ore grades continue to decline worldwide. Chile," Larrain said. "Countries like Brazil and Argentina are also suffering a slowdown in terms of economic development. Although Chile is clearly a major player in copper supply, the higher costs and the lower production rates seen at Codelco are a big concern for the Chilean Government." Javier Targhetta, senior vice president, marketing and sales, Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold, presented a very optimistic forecast. He anticipates positive 70 E&MJ; • JULY 2013 long-term copper fundamentals, with China remaining an important demand driver and still a major player in world demand. Freeport expects copper demand to grow around 3.2% annually to 2025 thanks to strong economic growth in emerging economies and an anticipated recovery in the developed world. "An example of it is the healthy automotive sector and the current housing recovery process taking place in the United States," Targhetta said. As for the decreasing ore grades reported by copper producers from all over the world, Targhetta explained that the lower ore grades mean an increase in smelting costs because it is required to use more resources to treat the same amount of material and obtain the same output. Declining ore grades is a factor that Polish copper miner KGHM knows all too well. The company is the eighth largest global copper miner with operations in Poland, Canada, the United States, Chile, Germany and Greenland, and one of the top five Polish companies by revenue—first by net profit. "Higher production, labor and energy costs, along with a deficiency of significant low-cost copper deposits in Poland and a decline in average copper contents in domestic deposits are some of our main challenges," said KGHM CEO Herbert Wirth. A high degree of flexibility and innovation is the approach KGHM plans to take to mitigate the situation. The company's Sierra Gorda project, an open-pit copper-moly-gold operation in the Antofagasta region of Chile, is currently under construction. Professor John Tilton, from the Colorado School of Mines, offered some perspective on the impact of cyclical factors on productivity and costs. He said many copper www.e-mj.com

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Engineering & Mining Journal - JUL 2013