Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) has begun the environmental permitting process for a $7.5 billion expansion of its majority owned El Abra copper mine in ChileThe project, owned 51% by Freeport and 49% by state-owned Codelco, is the largest mining investment submitted to Chile’s Environmental Assessment Service (SEA) since at least 1992. The plan includes a new concentrator, a desalination plant, a water pumping system, expanded mine infrastructure and continued leaching. Production is expected to begin in 2033 if regulators approve the project, Diario Financiero reported.

[SMM Shanghai Spot Copper] Copper prices opened lower with a gap in the night session yesterday, and some enterprises placed orders to restock at low levels. Intraday procurement demand increased somewhat, but considering that replenishment had already been concentrated the previous day, actual additional purchasing was limited. According to data released by SHFE on March 19, SHFE copper warrants decreased by 12,200 mt during the day, confirming that after copper prices pulled back, downstream buying-the-dip enthusiasm picked up, and the center of spot premiums moved higher accordingly. From the market structure perspective, the import profit window widened slightly, and expectations for subsequent inflows of cargo from outside China increased, which may put some pressure on the supply side. Overall, amid the tug-of-war between faster destocking and supplier selling, Shanghai spot copper premiums are expected to remain at the current level tomorrow.

SMM Morning Meeting Summary: Overnight, LME copper opened at $12,093.5/mt. Early in the session, the center of copper prices gradually moved lower and fell to $11,754/mt, then fluctuated upward to a high of $12,228.5/mt, before seeing wide swings and finally closing at $12,211.5/mt, down 1.05%. Trading volume reached 46,900 lots, open interest stood at 288,600 lots, an increase of 239 lots from the previous trading day. Overnight, the most-traded SHFE copper 2605 contract opened at 92,500 yuan/mt and fell to 91,820 yuan/mt early in the session. The center of copper prices then fluctuated upward to a high of 95,530 yuan/mt, before fluctuating rangebound and finally closing at 94,920 yuan/mt, down 0.91%. Trading volume reached 153,000 lots, open interest stood at 197,000 lots, down 6,302 lots from the previous trading day, mainly due to long liquidation.

Spot #1 copper cathode in North China was quoted at discounts of 60 yuan/mt to parity against the front-month contract today. The average premium/discount fell by 30 yuan/mt from the previous trading day, and the average transaction price rose by 195 yuan/mt from the previous trading day to 95,840 yuan/mt.

Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) said on Monday it has gained control of acreage in Arizona needed to build the Resolution Copper mine, a project slated to become one of the largest US sources of the critical mineral but one that Native Americans have opposed for more than 20 years.

This Week (March 13–March 19), the Operating Rate of Machinery in the Enamelled Wire Industry Rebounded 3.8 Percentage Points WoW to.....