The pre-holiday decline in copper prices boosted downstream buying interest, and market activity showed signs of heating up. [SMM North China Spot Copper]

Chile's central bank reported on September 1 that the July Imacec economic activity index fell 1.5% year-on-year on an unadjusted basis. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the index fell 2.1% year-on-year and 1.7% month-on-month, marking the steepest monthly decline since 2022. The bank attributed the drop mainly to mining, which fell a significant 9.3%, primarily due to weather conditions, followed by lower ore grades and equipment maintenance that disrupted normal production operations. Many of the affected mines are copper-molybdenum associated deposits. Since molybdenum concentrate is recovered as a byproduct of the flotation process used to treat copper sulfide ore, the disruption to processing plants also curtailed molybdenum output.

아낙스 메탈스는 서호주 윔 크릭 구리-아연 프로젝트에서 힙 침출 타당성 조사에 착수했으며, 기존 선광기 계획과 함께 두 번째 처리 경로를 평가하고 있다. 최근 CSIRO 컬럼 시험에서 저품위 광석으로부터 구리 추출율 77~80%, 아연 추출율 90% 이상을 달성했다. 2027년 1분기 완료를 목표로 하는 이번 조사는 기존 허가된 힙 침출 및 SX-EW 인프라를 활용한 구리 음극재 생산 및 판매 가능성을 평가할 예정이다.