Financial News
Copper: The Answer To A Big Mystery Is At Hand
Copper shortages are looming. New copper deposits are drying up, and breakthrough technologies that altered other commodities have failed to convert copper. A US business claims to have solved a decades-old mining puzzle, which might impact global supplies. Jetti Resources’ discovery could liberate millions of tons of copper to supply power grids, building sites, and car fleets worldwide, lowering or closing the shortfall.
At its simplest, Jetti’s method is focused on a common form of ore that traps copper behind a thin coating, making it excessively costly and difficult to remove. The upshot is that large quantities of metal have been left stranded over the decades in mine-waste piles on the surface, as well as in untapped sources. Jetti’s catalyst breaks the layer, allowing rock-eating microorganisms to release the copper.
The technology still needs to be validated on a broad scale. But the riches at stake are luring in some of the industry’s most influential figures.
According to sources, BHP Group, the world’s largest mining firm, has been negotiating a pilot plant at Escondida, its crown jewel copper mine in Chile, for months. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. implemented Jetti’s technology in an Arizona mine this year, while Rio Tinto Group plans to implement a similar procedure.
Miners address a critical issue. Copper is found in phones, laptops, water pipes, and cables nowadays. An electrified future will require more copper than ever, despite the worldwide push to phase out filthy natural resources like oil and coal.
Despite its relevance, shortages are increase in the next decades. The best mines are old, and the few new ones are either in challenging locations or face years of opposition to development.
Commodity market history suggests that deficits spur innovation. The 2010s US shale boom upended the oil market, while nickel processing innovations changed supply projections.
But new discoveries in copper are increasingly unlikely, considering the long history of mining — evidence of copper usage has been traced back to at least 8,000 BC in what is now Turkey and Iraq. More than half of the world’s 20 largest copper mines were discovered more than a century ago.
Copper mining has left large amounts of metal in garbage dumps.
The rationale is a principle as old as mining itself: ore is drawn up from the soil, the easiest metal is recovered, and anything too complex or expensive to process is put aside as waste. Over the previous decade alone, an estimated 43 million tons of copper have been extracted but never processed, worth more than $2 trillion at current prices, presenting significant prospects for anyone who can successfully retrieve those treasures.
To be clear, it’s not a novel concept to reprocess mining waste when technology improves or prices rise. But that just hasn’t been viable for certain types of ore. And the innovation has opportunities far beyond waste dumps – there are millions more tons still below that haven’t been viable to extract.
Much hinges on mining companies’ willingness to install Jetti’s plants. But if the technology becomes fully embraced by the industry, the business forecasts that as much as 8 million tons of additional copper may be produced each year by the 2040s – more than one third of last year’s total global mining production.
Jetti founder and CEO Mike Outwin remarked, “The industry has amassed this waste material forever.” “They’ve been trying to come up with an answer for it on their own for a number of decades and haven’t been able to.”
So far Jetti’s technique has been working on just one mine, at Pinto Valley in Arizona. But the results have been so promising three of the world’s major copper miners — including BHP — have taken interests in the company. Its recent funding was at a valuation of $2.5 billion.
Freeport also “initiated a commercial deployment this year at our Bagdad mine in Arizona to try the technology and will assess the results and continue to communicate with Jetti on potential options to work together.”
Copper-bearing rock has two types. The most common form, sulfide ores, are normally crushed, condensed, and then processed into pure copper in a fire-refining process. But that technology isn’t ideal for oxidic ores, and the industry’s final important invention came in the mid-1980s when it modified an electro-chemical process to extract copper from oxide ores, offering a major boost to supply.
Now, Jetti wants to use its technology to recover copper from a common type of sulfide ore that couldn’t be economically processed via either route—the copper content is too low to justify refining, and the hard, non-reactive coating prevented copper from being extracted in the lower-cost electro-chemical or “leaching” process.
Jetti developed a chemical catalyst with the University of British Columbia to break through the layer and release copper by leaching without high temperatures.
While Jetti’s technique is the most sophisticated, Rio Tinto believes it’s also cracked the challenge in lab testing. Rio has been offering junior mining businesses it invests in its Nuton technology to increase profitability if they develop their mining ventures. It has three such deals this year.
“When you look at the enormity of the reward, the potential is enormous,” said Adam Burley, who heads the Rio project. “It’s too huge to leave on the table.”
Rio thinks Nuton will produce the annual equivalent of one of the world’s top five copper mines by the end of this decade, producing 500,000 tons of copper.
Freeport, Codelco, and Antofagasta Plc have been developing in-house solutions for their mines, although little is known about their success.
Limits exist. Progress in North and South America depends on whether the technology can be used in significant mines.
Yet for BHP, the fact that it is even debating the future of Escondida, the world’s single biggest supply of copper, with a small upstart is telling.
According to sources, Jetti’s insistence on installing and operating its own plant at the host mine has stalled negotiations for months. Profit sharing is negotiated.
According to sources, Rio, BHP’s junior partner at Escondida, wants Nuton technology investigated.
Jetti and BHP did not discuss conversations or transactions.
Jetti exists. No pilot plants or lab tests. Jetti has been used commercially,’’ added Outwin. “Our partners will generate enormous profits from being able to leverage our process, and Jetti will perform well.’’
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