Southern Copper reports negative copper production costs
Updated
Updated · Bloomberg · May 1
Southern Copper reports negative copper production costs
10 articles · Updated · Bloomberg · May 1
In January-March, its cash cost net of byproduct revenue was minus 11 cents a pound, versus 77 cents a year earlier; Vale also saw copper costs turn negative.
Rising prices for byproducts including gold and silver more than offset extraction costs, meaning Southern Copper was effectively making money from mining ore before selling the copper itself.
The unusual cost dynamic highlights how byproduct markets can reshape miners' economics even when copper prices are excluded from cash-cost calculations.
With byproduct prices dictating profits, are copper miners now just precious metals companies with an industrial metal bonus?
As smelters pay miners for raw materials, who truly controls the global copper supply chain now?
Can AI solve the massive copper shortage before it derails the world's tech and green energy ambitions?