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Gold/Mining/Energy : Copper - analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gamma Positive who wrote (372)	3/21/2002 12:52:05 PM
From: Stephen O	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2131

Chile to Have No New Copper Mine in 2002, First Time in 5 Years 2002-03-20 18:30 (New York) Santiago, March 20 (Bloomberg) -- Mining companies don't plan to open any new copper mines this year in Chile for the first time in five years because of stagnant demand for the metal. William Hayes, president of Placer Dome Inc. in Latin America and head of the Chilean copper mining companies association, said the slowdown reflects the drop in copper prices. Copper prices have fallen to an average of 75 cents per pound in the past four years from $1.1 per pound in the mid 1990s. ``There are projects waiting for better times,'' Hayes said in an interview after a news conference. Lower demand for the metal and a drop in investment has reduced Chile's copper production, a setback to the government efforts to bolster economic growth. No new Chilean copper mines are scheduled to open in 2003 or in 2004, the Chilean Copper Commission, a state-run studies group, said. Vancouver-based Placer Dome has put development of its $1.3 billion gold and copper mine Cerro Casale on hold until prices for gold rise to $300 per ounce from $292 now and copper prices rise to more than 95 cents, said Hayes. Copper prices traded at 76.6 cents per pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange for delivery in three months. Prices have climbed 16 percent this year. Flat Demand Flat demand for the metal will likely keep prices from surging, said Hayes. He expects global demand for the metal to stay little changed at about 15 million tons this year from last year. For now, companies are investing only to expand existing mines. State-run Codelco plans to increase output at its El Teniente mine in central Chile, while Australia's BHP Billiton Ltd. has an expansion underway at Escondida, the world's biggest copper mine. Both Codelco and Escondida cut back production after prices for copper dropped in November to a 14-year low of 60.85 cents per pound, adding to a 1.5 percent decline in Chilean copper production in January from a year earlier. Investment in Chilean mines dropped to $236 million in 2000 from a peak of $2.4 billon in 1998, the government said. Chilean copper output will likely be little changed this year at 4.76 million tons from 4.75 million last year, after output had tripled since 1990, the National Mining Society said. --Heather Walsh in Santiago (562) 638-6820 or hlwalsh@bloomberg.net or through the New York newsroom (212) 318- 2730. Editor: Kraus