Commodities have seen four supercycles over the past 100 years — with the last one peaking in 2008 after 12 years of expansion.

The miner said when fully ramped up, Florence will produce 40,000 tonnes of high quality cathode copper annually for the US domestic market.

Meanwhile, the company reported that its underlying profit nearly doubled in H2 2020.

Rough seas and a shortage of containers have bogged down shipments from the world's largest producer of the red metal.

Copper's mega rally extended further on Wednesday, setting an intraday high of $3.7955 a pound.

Company expects high metal prices and strong copper product demand this year.

Company said basic earnings per share for the full-year 2020 will range from $0.80 to $0.84, or 300% to 320% higher than the figure for the previous year.