Digging a hole
Copper mine controversy
Good morning, metallurgy masters. This is your Stock Market Rundown for September 20th, 2024. Thank you so much for reading. Let’s dig in:
TODAY’S TOP STORY: DIG DEEP
Predictions of future commodity prices are typically about as reliable as a newspaper horoscope. Today’s forecast for Virgo: gold will hit new all-time highs!
But when it comes to copper, mining experts agree: long-term, the industrial world is facing shortages, which should eventually support higher prices. Copper is a big part of the transition to electric vehicles and sustainable energy. Plus, we need literal tons of it to build infrastructure like power grids and data centers.
So, the world needs new copper mines, ASAP. Luckily, the mining industry is riding to the rescue. Rio Tinto and BHP have partnered up to build a mega-mine in Arizona: the Resolution Copper project.
If completed, the mine will supply more than a quarter of US demand for copper, and make America more self-sufficient in critical minerals. The scale is massive—getting 40 billion pounds of copper out of the ground will require digging a crater two miles wide and a thousand feet deep.
Slight problem: that crater would destroy a religious site used by local Native American tribes. And it turns out they’re not too keen on it being turned into a giant open pit. Tribal representatives just petitioned the US Supreme Court to block the mining companies’ access to the land.
What’s next? Well, it’ll be up to whoever wins the US presidential election on November 5th to either give the go-ahead on the mine, or axe it. Considering BHP and Rio Tinto have already spent more than $2 billion on the project without producing any copper, they’re probably wishing they could predict the future.
SO WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
TikTok is back in court seeking to block a law that could ban it from US phones by early next year. It’s possible American teens will just have to go back to learning dance moves from awkward school talent shows.
Mall retailer Zara is well-known for producing throwaway “fast fashion”, so it’s a smart PR move that they’re launching a “pre-owned” clothing platform. I’m just not sure I want to buy a polyester jumpsuit somebody else wore to both weekends of Coachella.
The price of Bitcoin may be down, but there’s always a bull market in crypto scams. Losses from cryptocurrency-related fraud totalled over $5.6 billion last year. Not surprising, when one wrong click can vaporize your digital wallet.
Church & Dwight, makers of Trojan condoms, is being sued because their jimmy hats may contain “forever chemicals” linked to health risks. Sure, you can skip the protection, but that just exposes you to another risk: fatherhood.
That’s it for today, compadres. Have a terrific weekend, and we’ll circle back for more next week. Yours in capitalism, The Axe
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