Adani’s new copper smelter in India applies to become LME-listed brand
A major new copper smelter in India owned by Adani Enterprises Ltd has applied to become a listed copper-producing brand with the London Metal Exchange, the LME said in a notice on Wednesday.
The copper smelter, which has an annual production capacity of 500,000 metric tons, is coming online at a time of shrinking smelting margins due to new smelter capacity in China and slower-than-expected growth of copper concentrate supply.
According to Adani, the $1.2 billion Kutch Copper facility in the western state of Gujarat is the world’s biggest single-location plant of its type.
It is expected to begin smelting in May, Adani’s head of metals, Felipe Williams, said in April. Chilean copper mining giant Codelco also said in April it would begin supplying copper concentrates to the smelter for refining this year.
For India, the smelter is expected to reduce the country’s reliance on imported copper. According to the Trade Data Monitor, India imported refined copper worth $2.8 billion last year, mainly from Japan, Tanzania and Mozambique.
Copper listed for storage in LME-registered warehouses can be delivered against copper futures traded on the exchange when their contracts expire. For market players, LME-listed copper is easier to finance than non-registered brands.
(By Polina Devitt; Editing by Paul Simao)
Hudbay snags $600M investment for Arizona copper project
Canada’s Hudbay Minerals (TSX, NYSE: HBM) has struck a $600-million deal with Mitsubishi that hands the Japanese conglomerate a 30% stake in its fully permitted Copper World project in Arizona.
The agreement, announced on Wednesday, secures a long-term partner for Hudbay and sharply reduces its upfront funding needs. Mitsubishi will pay $420 million at closing and an additional $180 million within 18 months.
The company will also fund its pro-rata share of future capital costs, deferring Hudbay’s first capital contribution until at least 2028 and trimming its expected outlay to about $200 million based on prefeasibility study (PFS) estimates.
“Securing Mitsubishi as a 30% partner in Copper World is an important milestone for Hudbay as we establish a long-term strategic partnership to advance this high-quality copper project towards sanctioning and to unlock significant value in our copper growth portfolio,” chief executive officer Peter Kukielski said in a statement.
Shares in Hudbay Minerals hit their highest level in more than a decade on the news to trade at C$16.49 in early morning in Toronto. The stock last touched such a high level in 2011 and it was trading at C$15.36 late afternoon, leaving the miner with a market capitalization of C$6.06 billion ($4.4B).
Hudbay began seeking a minority partner for Copper World earlier this year, attracting interest from investors in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Japan.
HudBay discovered Copper World in 2021. The project, located about 50 km southeast of Tucson, is expected to yield 85,000 tonnes of copper per year over a 20 year mine life.
$1.5B investment
Hudbay estimates the development will represent a $1.5 billion direct investment in the US critical minerals supply chain, which has been a policy priority for Washington as it seeks to reduce reliance on foreign sources of key raw materials.
Once in production, Copper World would boost Hudbay’s consolidated copper output by more than 50%. Arizona remains a strategic focus for major copper producers, including Rio Tinto (ASX, LON: RIO), aiming to meet growing US demand.
The transaction is expected to close in late 2025 or early 2026, pending regulatory approvals. Hudbay aims to complete a definitive feasibility study by mid-2026, with a final decision on the proposed mine targeted for later that year.
El Teniente mine lost 20,000-30,000t of copper due to accident, Codelco says
A multi-day shutdown at Codelco’s El Teniente mine due to an accident in late July led to a loss of 20,000 to 30,000 metric tons of copper, equivalent to approximately $300 million, Codelco chairman Maximo Pacheco said in a statement on Wednesday.
A collapse at El Teniente on July 31 caused the deaths of six workers and is still being investigated.
(By Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Alexander Villegas)
MMG warns Peru election poses risk to Las Bambas copper mine
Peru’s presidential election next April could raise the risk of more protests affecting MMG Ltd.’s flagship Las Bambas copper mine, chief executive officer Zhao Jing Ivo said during an earnings call on Wednesday.
Las Bambas is Peru’s largest copper mine and the Chinese company’s cornerstone asset, but its operations have been dogged by years of sporadic social unrest — sometimes tied to political tensions in the Andean nation.
“In the run-up to the presidential election in April next year, the risk of protest actions could increase,” Zhao said on an earnings call on Wednesday.
The most serious disruption at Las Bambas was in 2022 — a year of political turmoil in Peru — when the mine halted output for more than 50 days after protesters occupied the site. Current President Dina Boluarte is due to hand over power after the vote next year.
MMG’s shares pared gains Thursday after rallying more than 10% on Wednesday on a jump in first-half net income to $340 million, from $21.1 million a year earlier.
The company is still clearing out inventories after road blockades by informal miners last month interrupted some shipments of semi-processed copper from the mine. There has been no formal agreement between those protestors and the government, so there is still a risk of further disruptions in the second half of the year, Zhao said.
Still, Las Bambas operated at full capacity throughout the recent disruption, Zhao said, and output guidance for this year was unchanged at between 360,000 tons and 400,000 tons. The upper end of the range assumes “stable operating conditions and limited external disruptions,” MMG said in a statement.
Since the major outage in 2022, MMG has worked to build a relationship with the local communities, including artisanal miners, and this has prevented similar events, Zhao said.
(By Paul-Alain Hunt)
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