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.
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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