For copper miners Southern Copper Corp. and Vale SA, surging prices of byproducts like gold and silver are creating an unusual situation: The cost of producing the red metal has turned negative.
For copper miners Southern Copper Corp. and Vale SA, surging prices of byproducts like gold and silver are creating an unusual situation: The cost of producing the red metal has turned negative.
Employees remove copper debris during the electrolytic refining process of copper at a Southern Copper Corp. refinery.
Southern Copper Corp. expects copper output to decline over the next two years as ore grades fall at key mines in Peru, even as a surge in silver prices sharpens the miner’s focus on boosting production of the precious metal it typically produces as a byproduct.
Southern Copper Corp. expects copper output to decline over the next two years as ore grades fall at key mines in Peru, even as a surge in silver prices sharpens the miner’s focus on boosting production of the precious metal it typically produces as a byproduct.
Molten copper pours into ceramic molds to form plates at a Southern Copper Corp. smelter facility in Ilo, Peru. Photographer: Dado Galdieri/Bloomberg
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