Hudbay Minerals announced on October 21 that it has formally approved, together with Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation, the final investment decision (FID) for the Copper World copper mine project in Arizona, US, advancing project construction and development. Hudbay and Mitsubishi hold 70% and 30% stakes, respectively. The project's initial development capital is $2.07 billion, with first copper production targeted for H2 2029. The base case mine life is 15 years, with average annual copper production of approximately 102,000 mt in the first 10 years, about 11% higher than the 2023 pre-feasibility study case, and an average cash cost of $1.65/lb in the first 10 years.
The project will use open-pit mining and conventional flotation processing, producing copper concentrates and molybdenum concentrates. The development plan calls for the introduction of an in-pit crushing and conveying system in the fourth year of operations, and for the beneficiation plant throughput to be increased from 60,000 short tons per day to 90,000 short tons per day in the fifth year, driving average annual copper production to approximately 120,000 mt in years six through ten. The company has also proposed a 37-year mine life extension case, but it involves expansion onto federal land and still requires the corresponding federal permits. As planned, new supply from the project is expected to be gradually released starting in H2 2029.
