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Codelco boots copper 2024 but strains workers, delays maintenance

An internal document seen by Reuters showed Codelco’s production reached 1.328 million tons in 2024, at the low end of its target range and just about 3,500 tons higher than the quarter-century low in 2023.

The worker, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to talk about internal operations, said Codelco has yet to fix bottlenecks in transporting minerals in the mine.

Cristian Cifuentes, an analyst at the Center for Copper Studies (CESCO), said that the Ministro Hales mine is still at reduced capacity and the ramp up of Chuquicamata Underground has been “slower than we all thought.”

Source – Reuters

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    Missouri passes bill on gold and silver

    The Missouri legislature has passed a bill that would allow the state government to accept gold and silver as payment for taxes and other transactions

    The legislation, led by Republicans, would require state government entities to accept electronic versions of gold and silver, called “electronic specie currency,” as payment for taxes and public debts. The bill doesn’t require businesses to accept gold and silver as payment for private uses, but it would allow them to do so.

    “The goal is about restoring economic and political freedom back to everyday Missourians,” state Rep. Bill Hardwick (R) said.

    Source – Just The News

  • Mayor of Pataz, Peru “Gold is a curse”

    Pataz has become Peru’s largest gold-producing region, in no small part due to artisan or informal mines, which operate under temporary REINFO permits.

    “Gold is a curse for Pataz,” the mayor of Pataz, Aldo Mariño, told Reuters.

    He said that despite the area’s great mineral wealth, his community lives in poverty, without basic services and on deteriorating or unpaved roads.

    “This has been going on for several years, with the difference that now everything has collapsed. It’s due to the absence of the State,” he said. “People continue to die.”

    Poderosa has reported the deaths of 39 workers in recent years in attacks on its facilities or small mines that supply it with gold. And in the last four years, 15 of the company’s high-voltage towers have been destroyed with explosives.

    Source – Reuters

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    Gold sees longest rally since 2020

    “During the last three days, gold is up over 8% and on pace for its largest three-day move since March 2020,” Bespoke Investment Group said in a note Friday morning. “Before that, you would have to go back to the financial crisis to find the last time it rallied as much in three days.”

    “Gold may be catching a bid, but the dollar has floundered,” said Bespoke. “If you were looking for bonds to provide some ballast in your portfolio this week, you didn’t get it with Treasuries.”

    Source – Market Watch

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    Copper settled above $5

    Copper’s rise is being driven “solely by supply concerns surrounding the potential for universal tariffs to be placed on all imports of copper into the U.S.,” said Natalie Scott-Gray, a senior metals demand analyst at StoneX. The U.S. is “heavily reliant on foreign copper, with imports accounting for [around] 45% of demand.”

    Copper prices have climbed more than 23% in 2025 through Monday, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

    Source – Market Watch

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    JP Morgan analyst on gold

    After a strong run for precious metals, gold mining shares still look undervalued.

    That’s the view from JP Morgan’s latest note on listed producers, which argues there’s room for substantial upside, especially if its bullish forecast for the precious metal proves right.

    Its commodities team is pencilling in a price of $4,100 an ounce for 2026. That’s well above current spot levels of $3,320 and would mark a new all-time high.

    Based on that estimate, JP Morgan sees around 40–50 per cent upside to average analyst expectations for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation across the sector.

    Source – This Is Money

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    Freeport McMoRan mining raised at Jefferies

    Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) trades little changed Thursday as Jefferies upgrades shares to Buy from Hold with a $48 price target, raised from $40, just one month after downgrading due to risks in Indonesia, a cautious view on copper, and the company’s near-term lack of free cash flow.

    If tariffs are implemented, Comex copper price premiums to the LME, which have been high already because of potential tariffs, likely will rise further, Jefferies analyst Christopher LaFemina says, noting Freeport (FCX) sells 1.35B lbs/year of copper at Comex prices and the current Comex premium to LME is ~$0.30/lb, and tariff-impacted imports would effectively set the Comex price since the U.S. cannot be self-sufficient in copper.

    Source – Seeking Alpha

    Jefferies – Jefferies Financial Group Inc. is an American multinational independent investment bank and financial services company headquartered in New York City.