We don’t prospect too many years beyond current requirements, the economics don’t warrant it. We also consider development costs and regulatory overhead when deciding where to prospect. Copper mining is capital intensive, ore grade contributes less to the calculus than you might think. No one has exhaustively scoured the globe for copper, the incentives to do so aren’t there.
Companies have strong incentives to sandbag reserve estimates from existing mines. Anecdotally I’ve heard rumors that whisper reserves for copper specifically have materially expanded in recent years, driven by market demand that justifies that effort.
Companies have strong incentives to sandbag reserve estimates from existing mines. Anecdotally I’ve heard rumors that whisper reserves for copper specifically have materially expanded in recent years, driven by market demand that justifies that effort.