Copper
Copper remains a promising commodity
In addition to its traditional uses in electrical wiring, industrial machinery, building material, and as a constituent of various metal alloys, copper is a major component in electric vehicles. It is critical for the manufacture of motors, batteries, inverters, and wiring, as well as playing an important role in the charging stations themselves. According to the IEA, a pure electric vehicle can contain over a mile of copper wiring in its stator windings. Robust demand has been a strong factor driving copper prices, which hit a record price of US$5.02 in early March 2022, before pulling back considerably.
When it comes to copper production, countries like Chile and Peru typically dominate the conversation. Yet political instability coupled with mounting concern over environmental and social vulnerabilities are leading to heightened production costs without a grade boost to match. Elsewhere, limited new copper projects are slotted to enter commercial production over the next five years. Demand is raising, while mine development is not.
Though Québec’s mining sector historically centers around gold, and more recently on critical metals and rare earths that feed into the battery value chain, a few exploration companies in the province are trying to change this narrative. Kintavar Exploration is focusing on the Mitchi-Wabash mineralized district, which CEO Kiril Mugerman believes shares strong similarities with sedimentary basins in Poland and the Democratic Republic of Congo that host high-grade horizons.
“There are several good quality copper projects in Chile, Peru, and the US – the world’s major copper producing countries – that cannot get off the ground. As a result, we are not seeing the supply reaction that you would normally see.”
Ernest Mast, President & CEO, Doré Copper
“We are going after high-grade metamorphic terrains that have been extremely underexplored because they are harder to reach and even harder to understand,” said Mugerman. “These are areas with unique rock formations, and we believe they are a new frontier for base metal exploration in Québec.”
Given the lack of copper exploration in the province, Kintavar Exploration has received support from the government and regional institutions.
Doré Copper is hoping to take advantage of the global copper deficit with its hub-and-spoke model of having several mines feed into a central mill. The company has increased the size of the resources at its flagship Corner Bay deposit from 1.5 million tons to approximately 8.5 million tons, and the grade has remained over 3% copper. Doré plans to have its secondary deposits, including Joe Mann and Devlin, capitalize on existing infrastructure.
President and CEO Ernest Mast believes the high density of potential deposits in the broader Chibougamau camp make the company’s hub-and-spoke model attractive, as it can amass several deposits within a 100 km radius of the mill: “As part of the hub-and-spoke Chibougamau mining camp, we have a number of deposits that can enter into the operation, and we believe we are creating a very long-life business.”
According to Mast, Doré has the most advanced copper project in Québec and one of the most advanced in all of North America.
Image by Ra Dragon in Unsplash
“Until three years ago, there was no copper exploration in Québec. We have so much support from the government and regional institutions because we are exploring in a brand-new region.”
Kiril Mugerman, CEO, Kintavar Exploration