Copper Supply and demand in the Near Future April 5: Among all of the metals, none is more critical than copper, even though the red metal is never categorized as such. Mainstream media and the large mining companies are finally catching on to what we have been saying for the past two years: The copper market is heading for a severe supply shortage due to a perfect storm of underexploration/lack of discovery of new deposits clashing with a huge increase in demand due to electrification and decarbonization.
Yet it appears the U.S. did not get the memo.
Even though in 2020 copper exports to China were surging, along with prices, as the country sopped up millions of pounds of cheap copper rendered less expensive by the pandemic, in the U.S., copper production actually fell. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, output decreased by 5% to an estimated 1.2 million tons.
One of the problems with copper is that it’s difficult to find in large enough amounts close to surface, where it’s economical to extract. It also takes many years to bring a copper deposit into production, especially in places like the U.S. and Canada, where miners face strict permitting regulations that can cause delays. According to Bloomberg Intelligence, the average lead time from first discovery to first metal has increased by four years from previous cycles, to almost 14 years.
Recent research by BI reveals that the mining industry needs 10 million tons more copper to meet much higher demand from the clean power and transportation sectors. [That] requires spending up to $100 billion to head off what could be an annual supply deficit of 4.7 Mt by 2030, according to estimates from CRU Group....
Failure will be measured in the price of copper, which is bound to go up, subject to the natural laws of supply and demand.
For those of us Longtime investors of Serengeti and Sun Metals, now, Northwest Copper. Do not look at the day to day share price. We are almost at the end of the first discovery, to first metal production cycle. We have $20 Million in cash reserves. This, most certainly, will expedite all new exploration. This will also, pave the way for Kwanika/Stardust Prefeasibility Study. Also, New life exploration into the Lorraine and Top Cat properties this Summer which is only 40 kilometers from Kwanika/Stardust, and last but certainly Not Least, EastNiv. The launching of the first drill program at East Niv, a highly prospective copper-gold exploration target which has raised a lot of eyebrows amongst Renowned Geologists around the world. These three sites will form the Epicenter of Copper and Gold Production in B.C.
Stay the course and Good Luck to All.