Copper demand continues to rise as prices boom
Clayton Walker, chief operating officer for Rio Tinto’s copper product group, on the need for more copper mines and production in the U.S.
Herriman, UTAH – The demand for copper in the U.S. is set to double in the next 10 years – but the nation lacks the production to meet that demand unless steps are taken to ease restrictions on new mines.
President Donald Trump hopes to change this after signing an executive order on Thursday to increase American mineral production.
“The United States possesses vast mineral resources that can create jobs, fuel prosperity, and significantly reduce our reliance on foreign nations,” the order reads. “The United States was once the world’s largest producer of lucrative minerals, but overbearing Federal regulation has eroded our Nation’s mineral production.”
The Bingham Canyon Mine, also known as the Kennecott Copper Mine, in Utah. (Rio Tinto / Fox News)
The order will focus on priority projects for minerals such as copper, uranium, potash and gold, among others. This is welcome news for the nation’s copper industry, which struggles to compete with the more relaxed mining regulations of other countries.
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“We’ve got to create more mines. Open up some of those resources that we have right here in the U.S. and bring them online,” Clayton Walker, COO of Copper at Rio Tinto, the second-largest mining company in the world. “That then feeds the manufacturing, the folks that actually take that raw material and turn it into something usable the consumers can enjoy. So I feel like it’s just a critical path for making manufacturing again here in the U.S. It all starts at the mines with that raw material.”
Rio Tinto has been trying to open a new copper mine in Arizona for 17 years, dubbed the Resolution Copper mine. Officials say the mine could provide as much as 20% of the demand. But it’s run into roadblocks over the years, including land rights issues and environmental concerns.
“The challenge we have right now in the U.S., it takes about 29 years to get a mine permitted. And so I’m all for doing the right thing. And I think we have some of the best standards and highest standards in the world, and I’m all for that,” said Walker. “But we’ve got to figure out a way to bring those mines online a little faster than, say, 29 years.”
The Bingham Canyon Mine, also known as the Kennecott Copper Mine, in Utah. (Rio Tinto / Fox News)
One way the permit process could be expedited: adding copper to the critical minerals list.
A critical mineral is defined by the Department of Energy as, “Any non-fuel mineral, element, substance, or material that the Secretary of Energy determines: (i) has a high risk of supply chain disruption; and (ii) serves an essential function in one or more energy technologies, including technologies that produce, transmit, store, and conserve energy.”
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