SMM Copper Market Morning Review (2015-7-7)

The Autonomous Bougainville Government said the Lloyds Panguna Metals & Energy Limited camp at the Panguna copper-gold mine was attacked on September 13. Personnel were assaulted and machinery was damaged in an arson attack. Authorities have not disclosed the extent of injuries or equipment losses. President Ishmael Toroama condemned the incident and said the government would continue pursuing the mine’s redevelopment.

According to Iranian media reports citing Seyed Mostafa Feiz, CEO of the National Iranian Copper Industries Company (NICICO), Iran’s geological copper ore resources rose to 24.5 billion tonnes from 22.2 billion tonnes at the start of the Iranian year, up 10.6%. Mineable (designable) reserves increased to 18.2 billion tonnes from 16.8 billion tonnes, while 198,462 metres of exploration drilling were completed in the first five months—about 40% of the 500,000-metre full-year target. At Miduk, mineable reserves rose 123% to 1.77 billion tonnes and geological resources increased 186% to 2.883 billion tonnes. The Sarcheshmeh cluster’s mineable reserves reached 7.7 billion tonnes at an average grade of 0.41%, with the mine’s operating permit extended through Iranian year 1429 (around 2050–51). Total material extracted during the period exceeded 153 million tonnes, up about 4% year on year; this figure includes sulphide ore, oxide material and waste rock, and is not copper production. The expanded resource and reserve base supports Iran’s longer-term development potential, but does not imply an immediate increase in supply.

Raptor Metals (ASX:RAP, formerly Eastern Metals) said borehole electromagnetic surveys across 12 drill holes at its Chester copper project in New Brunswick’s Bathurst Mining Camp have identified multiple conductors closely associated with known copper mineralisation. The BHEM results also show strong off-hole responses, providing clearer targets for follow-up drilling. The company said the conductors correlate well with previous VTEM and magnetic anomalies, supporting the interpretation that the Chester mineralised trend continues to the west. The 2026 drilling has validated Chester as a stacked copper-rich VMS system, with intercepts including 3.16m at 3.03% Cu in CDH001 and 10m at 0.98% Cu, 4.88% Zn, 1.64% Pb and 24.4g/t Ag in CDH004. Chester currently hosts a JORC 2012 resource of 6.685Mt at 1.07% Cu, containing around 158.6Mlb of copper, with mineralisation open along strike and at depth. The project remains at the exploration and resource-growth stage, with no direct near-term impact on copper supply.