CHARTS: Copper mining profits top $100 billion a year, but where are the new mines?
A recent presentation by S&P Global Market Intelligencemining and metals team featured a couple of graphs that crystalize the fundamental challenges facing copper mine supply.
Mitzi Sumangil, associate analyst at the US-based research firm, presented a graph showing the yawning gap between copper mining companies’ profits and capital spending.
Despite two consecutive years of bumper topline earnings north of $100 billion, expansion budgets haven’t budged, hovering in the early double digit billions. Barely more than 12% of ebitda, versus a long term average of more than double that…
