Reuters: Arizona's battle over crucial copper mine poised to sway US election

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/arizonas-battle-over-crucial-copper-mine-poised-sway-us-election-2024-09-12/

Arizona's battle over crucial copper mine poised to sway US election
By Ernest Scheyder
September 12, 2024 4:58 PM EDT

Sept 12 (Reuters) - Native American opposition to Rio Tinto and BHP’s Resolution Copper mine could prove crucial for the 2024 U.S. presidential vote in the battleground state of Arizona, underscoring the high tension over where best to extract critical minerals for the energy transition.

The mine would, if built, supply more than a quarter of America's appetite for copper and be a key part of Washington's efforts to eat into China's role as the world's largest copper processor and consumer.

The U.S. imports nearly half of its copper needs, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and its copper mine production has dipped 11% since 2021. There are only two domestic copper smelters.

Yet the underground Resolution mine would cause a massive crater that would swallow a religious site where Arizona's San Carlos Apache worship. That has fueled strong opposition from all but one of the state's 22 Native American tribes, as well as the National Congress of American Indians.

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[speak easy]

1. Theworlds largest procure of copper is Chile not China.

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Chile produces the most copper ore

But, that’s not what the article is talking about.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/china%E2%80%99s-pursuit-copper-changing-latin-america-210171

April 1, 2024

China’s Pursuit of Copper Is Changing Latin America

Copper mining has always been a highly competitive industry, and the geopolitical imperatives surrounding its production are thickening.

by Scott B. MacDonald Alejandro Trenchi

Copper is one of the world’s most useful industrial metals. If you tear open any mobile phone, laptop, solar panel, wind turbine, or electric vehicle (EV), you will find it. Without copper, there can be no green revolution. While demand for the reddish metal is set to rise, potential disruptions could also put upward pressure on prices, favoring the world’s leading producers, Chile and Peru. However, China is looking to play a more significant role in the production and refining of copper, which will change the economic landscape for the two South American countries and the United States. The geopolitical implications are also significant as China gains greater weight in critical materials, casting a long shadow over American plans to transition from fossil fuels to alternative energy.

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In February 2024, China approved a $2.4 billion plan to expand the Julong copper mine in the Qinhai-Tibet Plateau. Operated by the Zijin Mining Group, the project would give the Asian country the world’s largest copper mine. It is expected to start operations by year-end 2025 and will help secure China’s position as the world’s leader in copper refining.

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