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The Carajás region in northern Brazil could become one of the major producers of copper globally over the next decade, according to Ero Copper Chief Executive Officer and Director David Strang.
Vale has operated in the region for over 50 years, producing 150 million tonnes (Mt) of iron ore per year at the Carajás/Serra Norte mineral complex, the world’s largest open pit iron ore mine.
For Strang, however, the high demand for minerals like copper and nickel for clean technologies presents a unique opportunity for Carajás.
“The Carajás is one of the major mineral districts of the world. People talk about Sudbury, Norilsk, or the Witwatersrand Basin, but Carajás is potentially the most prolific iron ore, copper, nickel district in the world. It is just under explored, primarily because it has always been Vale there,” Ero Copper CEO told MINING.COM.
Brazil produced 99.5 Mt of copper in 2021 and is the 8th exporter worldwide, having only 1.6% of the world’s mined metal.
Most Brazilian copper deposits are located in Carajás, with an estimated total of 27.34 Mt
contained metal.
“That’s the super secret. There’s a lot of copper up there,” said Strang.
Ero Copper’s Tucumã Project in the Carajás Mineral Province is currently under construction and is expected to be in production in the second half of next year, adding 326,000 tonnes of recovered copper over an initial mine life of 12 years.
Vale’s top copper mine is located in the municipality of Canaã dos Carajás.
The Sossego mine has an annual production capacity of 93,000 tonnes of copper metal in concentrate, with estimated resources of 99 Mt.
Vale also operates the Salobo mine in Marabá, southeastern Pará, with a mineral reserve of 1.15 billion tonnes of copper, the biggest deposit in Brazil.
The company announced last week deals to sell a 13% stake in its base metals unit for $3.4 billion to Saudi Arabia’s Ma’aden and US firm Engine No. 1, as part of it strategy to unlock more value from its nickel and copper assets.
“It’s going to be interesting to see what happens with this Vale investment with the Saudi Arabians. Their portfolio of undeveloped copper projects is one of the best I’ve seen,” said Strang.
Ero’s chief executive also highlighted the opportunity to have premium products since Brazil has high levels of renewable energy. The country accounts for almost 7% of the planet’s renewable energy production.
“Brazil could become a top 10, maybe a top five copper producer in the world if those projects were developed,” Strang said.
