Arizona Could Provide a Viable Solution to the Copper Crisis in the US

Earlier this year, President Trump announced immediate measures focused on including copper in the list of critical minerals to provide tax incentives to mining firms and speed up permitting. Later in July, he announced that starting August 1st, the United States would impose a 50% tariff on all imported copper. 

Currently, the country is the 5th largest producer of the red metal after Chile, the DRC, Peru, and China. The U.S. produces nearly half of the red metal is uses, with efforts to bolster domestic production taking their time as it takes nearly three decades for copper mines to start production. 

This may soon change though, as Ivanhoe Electric Inc. moves towards becoming the first firm in America to launch a copper mine in the country in over 10 years. 

With the price of the red metal surging to record highs, the firm’s timing couldn’t be better. The firm’s copper project, dubbed Santa Cruz, is situated roughly forty miles south of Phoenix, Arizona and is expected to be operating by 2028. 

Ivanhoe recently announced results from a preliminary feasibility study on the project, highlighting that the study confirmed the strong economics of a high-grade, high-quality underground copper mining operation. The project will mine the largest high-grade copper oxide orebody in America, with probable mineral reserves of 136 million tons, which may help meet the domestic demand for copper cathodes in the country. 

The firm’s CEO, Taylor Melvin, revealed that the underground mine holds enough copper to produce nearly 3 billion pounds of metal over the next two decades or so. The company expects to employ 900 workers full-time, many of whom have a guaranteed job for the next 20 or so years. 

Ivanhoe plans to use leaching to extract the metal, which is quite an advantage as most copper currently mined in the country is usually exported for processing. With the demand for copper set to increase both domestically and internationally, being able to produce pure copper metal domestically may be a game changer for the United States. 

Estimates from the International Energy Agency expect that by 2050, the demand for the red metal may have hit almost 40 million tons. In 2024, the demand for the metal totaled 26 million tons. 

It should be noted though that unless new mines are established, production will inevitably reduce. The current U.S. environment is very supportive for domestic mining, which is encouraging for many mining firms, as Trump works to encourage production. 

The expected surge in the global demand for copper paints a positive picture for the outlook of exploration companies like Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX.V: BAY) (OTCQB: ATBHF) as they are perfectly positioned to attract more investors to back their operations over the coming years. 

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX.V: BAY) (OTCQB: ATBHF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/ATBHF 

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