Doré Copper Project, Chibougamau, Quebec, Canada (Photo courtesy Doré Copper Mining Corp.)
Retail and institutional investors are slowly getting more bullish on mining stocks. That’s good news. It’s been a while since the sector had much to get excited about.
Large mining stocks are down more than 50 percent from all-time highs, but the sector has bounced back some in 2019, up about 14 percent on average.
The reason for improved sentiment is linked to iron ore and particularly copper – two key metals for global miners. Bay Street and Wall Street analysts now believe copper prices will improve, especially in the wake of phase one of the U.S.-China trade deal. Copper prices rose last week to their highest level in seven months, highlighting how a brighter view of the world economy is supporting riskier corners of the market.
Earlier in 2019, the International Copper Association (ICA) commissioned a study to see what effects the global rise in renewable energy will have on copper demand. The answer? By 2027 demand with will rise by 56 percent, meaning and extra 813,000 tonnes will have to be added to current production levels. Another 5.5 million tonnes will be needed by 2028, and that’s only for renewable energy applications like wind power, which grew 8% in the US in 2018. Electric vehicles demand almost 10 times as much copper as their gas and diesel counterparts. By 2027, it’s expected that demand from EVs will send copper demand even higher, to 1.74 million tonnes per year.
Doré Copper Mining Corp. (TSX-V:DCMC, Forum) started trading on December 17th and CEO Ernest Mast explained how the new green energy revolution and how he believes copper as a commodity and component go hand-in-hand:
“We are looking forward to seeing how the effects of increased electrification throughout the world, the continued adoption of electric vehicles, and the supply constraints of decreasing head grades at aging mines and paucity of new projects impact the copper price in 2020. Doré Copper Mining Corp. is well positioned to benefit from these macro trends. “
So, from where is all this additional copper going to come? Because it is an industrial metal critical to the manufacturing and construction industries, copper is extremely sensitive to investors’ perception of global growth. The metal is closely tied to China, which accounts for roughly half of the world’s consumption.
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Copper’s rise underscores how better-than-feared economic data are supporting a range of markets near the end of the year. Stocks around the world and other commodities have also posted gains since the U.S. and China reached a tariff truce in mid-October, and some analysts say an eventual deal could give the world economy a powerful boost next year.
The recent rally is a boon for producers and bullish investors who watched copper prices languish for months despite falling inventories and lower-than-needed investment in new mines around the globe.
We asked President and CEO Paul West-Sells, who has seen a 68.66 percent year-to-date gain on the Western Copper and Gold Corp. (TSX:WRN, NYSE American:WRN) stock, about his current take on the global copper market moving forward:
“With the China-US trade war easing with the recent phase one deal, the price of copper will increasingly be governed by supply issues. As a very limited number of new mines have been built over the past 10 years, and with the time to permit and build a new mine increasing globally, copper supply will become increasing tight and prices will go up. Western, with a large copper-gold project part of the way through permitting, is well positioned to benefit from this situation.”
Investors take note – this is a clear indication why Western Copper and Gold Corp. and a host of other copper exploration mining interests are now in a major expansion mode, pouring billions into mega projects around the globe.
Mining Investment Guru Rick Rule Talks Copper
Rick Rule, President and CEO of Sprott US Holdings, is one of the most successful brokers of natural resource investments ever. A staunch contrarian, Rule looks to buy natural resource businesses for bargain prices after they’ve suffered large declines. Through the years, his disciplined investing style has made his clients billions of dollars in natural resources like gold, silver, copper, uranium, agricultural products, and even water.
According to Rick, the global supply of copper has becoming constrained. He explains the relative impact of an extended period of lower prices and low investment in a productive capacity.
However, he says prices are set at the intersection of supply and demand.
In an exclusive audio conversation with Stockhouse Editorial we recently asked Rick where he thinks copper pricing and supply / demand is headed for in 2020, if mining jurisdictions really matter, and the significance of China as major market player:
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With the obvious increasing demand for copper presenting itself to the global economy we see this as a sector that Canadians should keep their eyes on in 2020.
This perspective is high on the mind of Canadian copper professionals as well, like Go Metals (C.GOCO) CEO, Scott Sheldon who stated:
“Copper is a key component for transportation, electronics and construction. The electrification of transport plus world population growth points to continued acceleration for copper demand. Potentially large projects like our Monster have the ability to generate a lot of interest from companies looking to ensure continued access to copper.”
Metals & mining market analysts say the long-term outlook for copper looks positive. Supply remains relatively constrained because of disruptions in countries such as Indonesia and Chile, while many expect demand to rise as more consumers transition to EVs. Because investors remained wary of a short-term demand slowdown, anticipation of those future shortages had done little to lift copper prices for much of the year…until recently.
Stockhouse is also providing readers with an international perspective on copper. We connected with our Australian partners at The Market Herald to see what impact industrial metals miners in the land down under are anticipating. Those details and video discussion can be found here.
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FULL DISCLOSURE: Doré Copper Mining Corp. is a client of Stockhouse Publishing.