Le Cuivre

[energy_isere]

Chile copper output hits nine-year low, adding to supply concern

Bloomberg News | March 31, 2026

Chile posted its lowest monthly copper output in almost nine years, highlighting the challenges facing the world’s top producer as ore grades decline and key mines underperform.


Production totaled 378,554 metric tons in February, down 8.5% from January and 4.8% from a year earlier, according to data released Tuesday by the statistics agency INE. It was the lowest since March 2017, when a strike halted operations at BHP Group’s giant Escondida mine.

While no major disruptions were reported last month, rains in northern Chile and high seas can interrupt logistics in summer months when some mines also tend to do maintenance work.

In January — the latest month for which a production breakdown by company is available — state-owned Codelco’s output fell 45% from December levels, an unusually steep drop even considering year-end shipments and inventory adjustments.

Beyond seasonal factors, Chilean output has declined on a running 12-month basis for seven straight months, weighed down by setbacks at projects aimed at accessing higher-grade ore.

Given Chile accounts for about a quarter of the world’s mined supply, that slide underscores the broader supply constraints that helped drive prices to record levels in January before easing in early February and retreating further during the Iran conflict.

https://www.mining.com/web/chile-copper ... y-concern/

[energy_isere]

Mise à jour d'un vaste trafic illégal (et de vol) de Cuivre au Chili portant sur 917 millions de dollars entre 2020 et 2025 :

Chile uncovers criminal networks shipping millions of dollars of copper to Peru and China

Bloomberg News | April 8, 2026 |

Chilean investigators have exposed how organized criminal groups steal, process and ship copper on a previously unreported scale as perpetrators seek to capitalize on high metal prices.


On Wednesday, authorities dismantled a network that had moved an estimated 817 billion pesos ($917 million) worth of copper between 2020 and 2025, first trucking the metal to the northern port of Iquique and then shipping it to China. Two weeks earlier, police seized cables, chips and cathodes from a storage site in the city of Arica which was set to be smuggled to Peru and then on to China.
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https://www.mining.com/web/chile-uncove ... -to-china/

[energy_isere]

McEwen Copper seeks $4B to advance Los Azules

Cecilia Jamasmie | April 7, 2026 |


Los Azules has a projected 22-year mine life, with potential to extend to 33 years. (Image courtesy of McEwen Mining.)

McEwen Copper Inc. is in talks with global lenders to secure about $4 billion in financing to develop its Los Azules project in Argentina, advancing one of the country’s largest undeveloped copper deposits.

The company, a subsidiary of McEwen Mining (TSX, NYSE: MUX), is engaging export-credit agencies including the US Export-Import Bank to structure funding tied to equipment sourcing, managing director Michael Meding said in an interview this week.

Discussions also involve the US International Development Finance Corp. and financial groups in Europe and Japan following recent meetings in New York and a site visit by a Japanese delegation. The financing plan targets a mix of 30% to 40% equity, with export-credit agencies potentially covering up to 85% of equipment costs, particularly for US-made mining equipment such as haul trucks.

“There’s serious high-level interest,” Meding told Bloomberg News. “Some of our partners have spent several million dollars on due diligence.”

Chairman Rob McEwen said in an interview with MINING.COM last week that the Los Azules project is already supported by a feasibility study placing it in the second lowest quartile of the global cost curve.

He said this positions it as a large, financeable asset the company is advancing toward development. He added the project is targeting first production by 2030 and remains in the development and financing stage.


McEwen added that Los Azules is designed to produce copper cathode rather than concentrate, allowing it to bypass smelters and supply metal directly to end users.

‘Argentina has changed‘

The outreach reflects rising global interest in Argentina’s mining sector as policy conditions improve under new reforms and critical minerals agreements with the US.

“Since President [Javier] Milei was elected in December 2023, he has introduced policies and legislation that are designed to encourage investment into his country, to reduce inflation,” McEwen said, pointing to tax cuts and the removal of exchange controls that now allow capital to move more freely. “Argentina has changed.”


Argentina hasn’t produced copper since 2018, but projects like Los Azules may boost its role as a key future supplier. (Image courtesy of McEwen Mining.)

McEwen added that recent meetings with global financial leaders in New York reinforced that shift, citing growing optimism about the country’s resource potential and a stronger push from provincial governments to support mining development.

Backers including Stellantis NV and Nuton, a Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) venture, already hold stakes, and additional equity could come from Rio Tinto or another major partner as McEwen Copper evaluates a $300 million IPO by year-end.

First mine in 8 years

Los Azules has a projected 22-year mine life, with potential to extend to 33 years, and is expected to produce 205,000 tonnes of copper annually in its first five years, averaging 148,000 tonnes thereafter.

Argentina has approved the project for tax incentives under its Large Investment Incentive Regime, part of President Javier Milei’s push to attract capital to the sector.

The country has not produced copper since 2018, but a pipeline of projects including Los Azules could position it as a significant future supplier amid rising global demand.

https://www.mining.com/mcewen-copper-se ... os-azules/

[energy_isere]

suite de ce post du 24 aout 2025 : viewtopic.php?p=2415591#p2415591

Blue Moon outlines 13-year mine at Norway copper project

Staff Writer | April 16, 2026


The Nussir project is a new copper mine in Northern Norway based on the brownfield site of a mine that stopped operations in 1979. Credit: Nussir ASA

Blue Moon Metals (TSXV: MOON) (NASDAQ: BMM) says a newly feasibility study for its Nussir copper project in northern Norway has confirmed what it calls a “long-life asset with strong economics”.

The study, published on Thursday, outlined a potential 13-year mine operation with average annual production of 19,000 tonnes in copper equivalent (CuEq), including 3,600 oz. of gold and 546,000 oz. of silver.

Under the base-case scenario, including long-term price assumptions of $4.78/lb. copper, $3,515/oz. gold and $45.26/oz. silver, the project has a net present value (after tax, discounted at 8%) of $235 million, with an internal rate of return of 19%. Initial capital expenditures are estimated at $184 million. The total payable metal mix breaks down as 77% copper, 6% gold and 13% silver.

The FS results are based on a current measured and indicated resource of 28.72 million tonnes grading at 1.2% CuEq, inclusive of proven and probable reserves of nearly 25 million tonnes at 0.99% CuEq.

According to Blue Moon, there is potential to expand this resource as the deposit remains open to the west and at depth. Adding 5 years to the mine life utilizing 50% of the inferred resources would result in a 52% increase to the calculated NPV, the company estimates.

It also noted that FS only considers the underground resource of the Nussir deposit and not the Ulveryggen deposit part of the project.

Production in late 2027
The FS provides strong support to make a final investment decision on the project and confirms that the timeline to hot commissioning of the process plant is the third quarter of 2027, the Canadian-based junior said. The start of production is pegged for December 2027.

“The completion of this feasibility study update marks yet another significant milestone for our Nussir project and reaffirms the strength and value of this asset and resource,” CEO Christian Kargl-Simard stated in a press release.

“Through our ongoing exploration efforts at Nussir, including 200-metre step out holes at over 1-kilometre depth, we believe this will be a generational copper mine, so we believe these results are just the beginning,” he added.

Blue Moon acquired the Nussir project in late 2024 as part of its efforts to diversify away from its zinc project in California, focusing on near-production assets. The project is host to a historic mine that was in production during the 1970s, with mining occurring from four shear-hosted open pits until operations halted in 1979.

https://www.mining.com/blue-moon-outlin ... r-project/