{"id":6032,"date":"2024-07-12T23:35:26","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T23:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/12\/robert-friedland-no-rational-price-for-copper-as-essentially-infinite-demand-meets-short-supply\/"},"modified":"2024-07-12T23:35:26","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T23:35:26","slug":"robert-friedland-no-rational-price-for-copper-as-essentially-infinite-demand-meets-short-supply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/12\/robert-friedland-no-rational-price-for-copper-as-essentially-infinite-demand-meets-short-supply\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Friedland: No Rational Price for Copper as \u201cEssentially Infinite\u201d Demand Meets Short Supply"},"content":{"rendered":"

A copper crunch is coming as demand builds and the hunt for viable deposits comes up short.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s according to Robert Friedland, a well-known mining industry financier whose current roles include board leadership positions at Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN,OTCQX:IVPAF) and Ivanhoe Electric (TSX:IE,NYSEAMERICAN:IE).<\/p>\n

\u2018We see a crisis coming in physical markets, and we see a requirement for much, much higher copper prices,\u2019 he said in a recorded interview played at the Rule Symposium, held from July 7 to 11 in Boca Raton, Florida.<\/p>\n

\n

Copper demand \u201cessentially infinite\u201d <\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

Speaking first about copper demand, Friedland described it as \u201cessentially infinite,\u201d noting that growing the global economy at 3 percent a year for the next two decades would require more copper than the world has ever mined.<\/p>\n

In his view, the red metal is the most important element on the periodic table for humanity. It has well-known industrial uses, but Friedland also highlighted its ability to conduct electricity and heat \u2014 those characteristics make it essential in new applications like electric cars, artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and modern warfare.<\/p>\n

\u201cMilitary demand for this metal is going to go to infinity in the next few years,\u201d he said, telling the conference audience that demand from this sector will put an \u201cinfinite value\u201d on copper.<\/p>\n

On a more basic level, Friedland pointed to the billions of people around the world that want to improve their quality of life with an electric fan or an air conditioner. Air conditioners alone require \u201castronomic amounts of copper,\u201d he explained, but the red metal is also needed to generate and transmit the electricity they need to operate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no rational price for something you absolutely must have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ingenuity needed to boost copper supply <\/h3>\n

On the topic of supply, Friedland said the US is \u201cludicrously behind\u201d other countries, especially China, when it comes to copper and other raw materials. \u201cWe\u2019re facing a generational crisis, and we really need to educate our children on the necessity of raw materials,\u201d he told listeners at the Rule Symposium.<\/p>\n

To illustrate his point, Friedland said performing a Google search uses the same amount of power that it takes to run a 100 watt light bulb for 10 seconds; an AI query uses enough power to run that same bulb for 2 to 3 minutes.<\/p>\n

He also highlighted the need to transition away from copper produced using \u2018dirty energy\u2019 like coal. In his view, green copper produced by companies like Ivanhoe Mines will command a premium in the years to come. The company\u2019s Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo produced 100,812 metric tons of copper in concentrate in Q2, and is expected to reach steady state production in the year\u2019s third quarter. <\/p>\n

At the same time, Friedland thinks American ingenuity can provide supply solutions.<\/p>\n

He mentioned I-Pulse, a private company where he is co-founder, chairman and CEO. Its partners include Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO), BHP (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO), Newmont (TSX:NGT,NYSE:NEM) and Teck Resources (TSX:TECK.A,TSX:TECK.B,NYSE:TECK), and Friedland said most of its efforts are directed at developing and commercializing technology that will make it much easier to find mines and mine them with much less energy. <\/p>\n

Friedland also commented on Ivanhoe Electric\u2019s Typhoon technology. Put simply, it allows the company to look into the Earth and see electrically conductive metals like gold, copper, silver and nickel. In May, Ivanhoe Energy announced an alliance with BHP to use Typhoon to explore areas of interest in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think we may have hope for the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Intelligent portfolios need copper <\/h3>\n

Investors looking to get exposure to copper can buy copper stocks, but Friedland said those who have space to store it could also consider physical copper \u2014 the key is to figure out a form of exposure. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think any intelligent portfolio can be constructed without copper exposure,\u201d he said. He sees copper as a long-term play that investors can buy and hold for their grandchildren.<\/p>\n

Looking at timing, Friedland said that for the last few years a small community following mining stocks has traded copper equities between themselves. Now, however, he believes generalists are on the cusp of becoming interested, and he advised listeners to make sure they are early and not a day late.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no rational price for something you absolutely must have,\u201d Friedland said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on investingnews.com<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A copper crunch is coming as demand builds and the hunt for viable deposits comes up short. That\u2019s according to Robert Friedland, a well-known mining industry financier whose current roles include board leadership positions at Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN,OTCQX:IVPAF) and Ivanhoe Electric (TSX:IE,NYSEAMERICAN:IE). \u2018We see a crisis coming in physical markets, and we see a requirement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":6033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}