Market Survey on Copper - Indian Bureau of Mines

smelter production of copper is steadily increasing since 2004. The smelter production
of copper in 2009 was 495 thousand tonnes as against 410 thousand tonnes in 2003.
The refined copper production in 2003 was 510 thousand tonnes which rose to the
level of 532 thousand tonnes in 2009.
South Korea imported 1.60 million tonnes (gross weight) of copper ores &
concentrates in 2009. The imports of copper ores & concentrates which were 1.40
million tonnes in 2007 increased to 1.59 million tonnes in 2009. South Korea also
imported 488 thousand tonnes of refined copper in 2009 as against 406 thousand
tonnes in 2008.
USA
The USA with 35 million tonnes of reserves in terms of copper content occupies
fourth position in the world. The grade of copper ore in USA is fairly good. The
Jerome, Copper deposit, Arizona has the highest grade; Ray Pit deposit near the city
of Miami has nearly 85 million tonnes of ore with a grade of 1.65% Cu. Liberty and
Veteran deposits near Montana Miser chest deposit near Lordsberg, Arimetco, Cyprus
Amax, Kennecoh, and Leaching Tech. etc. are the other major deposits in USA.
The mine production of copper in USA showed a mixed trend during last 5
years the production remained around 1 million tonnes. In the year 2008 the mine
production was 1.3 million tonnes. It however decreased slightly to 1.2 million tonnes
in 2009. The smelter production of copper was 597 thousand tonnes in 2009 as
against 574 thousand tonnes in 2008. The production of copper ores and concentrates
in terms of copper content in USA which was 1.31 million tonnes in 2008 decreased
to 1.20 million tonnes in 2009. Production of refined copper in 2007 was 1.33 million
tonnes and decreased to 1.16 million tonnes in 2009.
Though USA imported negligible quantity of copper ores and concentrates, it
was the world's largest importer of refined copper with an import of 1.08 million
tonnes in 2006 replacing China which was the largest importer of refined copper in
2005. Since 2007 China has surpassed USA and is the top importer of refined copper
since then. The exports of refined copper from USA were 38 thousand tonnes in 2008
and increased to 86 thousand tonnes in 2009.
Zambia
Zambia has 19 million tonnes of reserve in terms of copper contents. the
important copper deposits in Zambia are located in Solwezi, Em, Nadola, Pet, Cem
Kabwa etc. The Zambia Consolidate Copper Mines (ZCCM) owns important mines
like Mindola, Muflira, Konkola, Nchanga, Nkana, Chingola and Luanshya. The
mining at two major mines, namely Konola and Chingola were affected due to poor
ground condition and lower grade respectively. Vedanta Resource Plc. has earmarked
US$ 400 million for the development of Konkola Deep Mining Project (KDMP), to
enhance the capacity from 1.5 million tonnes to 6 million tonnes per year. A modern
copper smelter with 300,000 tpy capacity after expansion is under construction at
Nchanga mine.
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