Soaring demand for copper will help drive mergers, BHP CEO says
Demand for copper, a key element in the energy transition, is set to rise by 70% to 100% by 2050, Mike Henry said
Miner Southern Copper will likely finish building its Tia Maria copper project in southern Peru in up to two years and then begin production in 2027 if not sooner, chief executive officer Oscar Gonzalez told local radio broadcaster RPP.
Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an internal document, that the long-postponed $1.4 billion project located in the Arequipa region’s Islay province was set to restart development on Monday, after years on hold amid community opposition over fears about the mine’s environmental impact.
Protests opposed to the mine left six people dead between 2011 and 2015.
Tia Maria is eventually expected to produce 120,000 metric tons of copper annually.
In the radio interview, Gonzalez said that though the mine was slated to begin production in 2027 “we will try to make it a little earlier.”
Shares in Southern Southern Copper, controlled by Grupo Mexico, rose over 1% following the announcement while the parent company saw its stock jump nearly 3%.
Gonzalez noted that community opposition had diminished in recent years and that the miner was working on a water dam study that would benefit farmers in the Tambo Valley area. He did not give a set date for its completion.
“We don’t believe there will be any problem,” he added, saying the dam will be able to store some 70 million cubic meters of water.
(By Marco Aquino and Sarah Morland; Editing by David Alire Garcia and William Maclean)
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