Copper end use trends

Profits in China's non-ferrous metal industry declined in 2009 despite rising output due to low prices, according to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).Output of 10 kinds of non-ferrous metals, including copper, alumina, zinc and lead, increased 5.8 percent in the country from a year earlier to 26.81 million tonnes last year.However, combined profit of 70 major enterprises in the sector totaled 17.6 billion yuan (2.58 billion U.S. dollars), down 1.46 percent year on year, the MIIT said.

Reuters reported that Chile's Escondida output fell just over 12% in 2009 to 1.103 million tonnes from 1.255 million tonnes in 2008. Escondida, majority owned by global diversified miner BHP Billiton said in a statement that it produced 775,731 tonnes of copper in concentrates and 327,245 tonnes of copper cathodes in 2009.

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – A precious-metals streaming deal with Silver Wheaton will cover about a quarter of the cost to build Augusta Resource's Rosemont copper project, in Arizona, and the company expects to have the balance of the capital tied up by around the end of the third quarter, CEO Gil Clausen said on Thursday.

Copper output in Zambia, Africa's top producer, rose 14 percent to 697,860 tonnes last year, but output was hampered by the closure of some mines after the global financial crisis unfolded.

XTA - Xstrata Latest Prices LONDON (SHARECAST) - Xstrata has completed the sale of its 70% interest in El Morro SCM, which owns the El Morro copper-gold project in north-central Chile. The miner will get $463m in cash from New Gold

And so apparently are nickel, zinc and aluminium prices, according to notes from Barclays Capital, JP Morgan and Standard Chartered. More intriguingly there has been a sudden surge in cancelled warrants at the London Metals Exchange (LME). Metal on warrant represents inventories in store at the LME’s warehouse. But cancelled warrants represent metal earmarked for delivery — investors cancel their warrants because they want to take it out of the LME warehouse, as Chris Flood, one of the FT’s commodity correspondents, explained. So a rise in cancelled warrants suggests more demand for the underlying physical commodity and deliveries thereof.

The mathematical modelling of metals prices is a useful tool for the mining and investment communities by helping to explain market performance. As a service to Mining Journal readers, we provide here an explanation of Bloomsbury Minerals Economics Ltd's model for copper.London-based BME models metals prices with reference to three 'fundamental' forces: stocks of the metal, economic growth (or specific metal demand) and performance of the US dollar. The models have progressed from dealing with commodities as industrial raw materials to dealing with them as a hybrid physical-investment market.BME is this year introducing the influence of investment/disinvestment on the market, and on ways of better understanding investor flows. 

NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - World refined copper production exceeded consumption by 144,000 tonnes between January and November of 2009, more than doubling a market surplus of 58,000 tonnes in the same year-ago period, the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) said in its latest monthly bulletin.

Global miner Anglo American (AAL.L: Quote) said Monday it expects its total copper output to reach 1.2 million tonnes by 2014.

Rio Tinto announced is expanding its Mine of the Future programme to develop new equipment and systems for deep underground mines. The programme is designed to create next generation technologies for mining operations.

build electric motors for a hybrid vehicle platform due in three years

To the extent that a (gasoline) engine is core, these motors will be core

GM opened its own battery pack manufacturing plant last year because it considers that technology, too, to be core to its strategy.

will compete on price with conventional DC and universal motors

claimed to be the only type of motor with no torque ripple

Today, I’m declaring war on everything “going green.” No, I’m just kidding. In fact, the Tobak’s just installed a huge solar array that, with all the tax breaks, is supposed to pay off in less than six years. Not bad.

In his speech in Constitution Hall this week, former Vice President and renewable energy investor Al Gore extolled a stretch goal challenging America to achieve 100% renewable power within 10 years.

The price of copper has jumped to the highest level in five weeks after the huge earthquake in Chile.

Production at some of the largest mines resumed on Sunday, although Chile's mining minister said it could take two days for production to resume.

While port activities at San Antonia are closed, the larger and more important ports of Antofagasta and Mejillones were unaffected by the quake. As long as ports are open, the export of copper from Chile may see little disruption. Meanwhile, mines in northern Chile appear to be operating normally. BHP Billiton said its copper mines weren't affected, while a Codelco spokesman said its northern Chilean mines are operating normally.

Global miner Rio Tinto will increase its stake in Canada's Ivanhoe Mines by 2.7 percent to 22.4 percent for $233 million, in a move tied to plans to jointly develop the giant Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia.