We discussed the impact of this situation in our article Freeport Plagued by Lower Copper Ore Quality.
Moreover, lower quality copper ore has resulted in a decline in the production levels for the company in the past.
The declining grade of copper ore, a simultaneous increase in costs and political problems are other major problems facing Freeport.
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They want to provide a series of incentives to mine owners and firms which make gold as a by-product of smelting copper ore.
But the company has been facing difficulties in the recent past with lower quality copper ore, resulting in reduced production levels for the company.
Thus all those mountains of copper oxide out there (and there are many, quite literally, mountains of copper oxide) became copper ore instead of dirt.
In order to dig out the copper ore, the company will have to shift the inhabitants of an entire town, and move them across the valley.
But if Freeport does not ramp up production quick enough to compensate for the lower quality of copper ore, it may end up producing only 1 billion pounds of copper each year during this period.
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But he put his training to work, filling empty iron- and copper-ore ships with lime and selling it to mines that exported the ore (lime is used to neutralize acid used in mining).
It started with gold years ago and now embraces copper, iron ore, coal and grains.
State-owned companies are bargain-hunting for copper and iron ore in more stable places like Zambia and Liberia.
Inventories for coal, copper and iron ore as well as oil are too high based on current consumption.
Raw materials plays like copper, iron ore, even coal are suspect unless commodity quotes hold at currently extended levels.
My portfolio covers copper, iron ore and coal, namely Rio Tinto--making new highs.
If emerging markets recover next year, the gutsy play is in raw materials, namely copper, iron ore and coal.
Burgeoning stockpiles of everything, from copper to iron ore, sugar, and natural gas finally overwhelm real demand, and prices crater.
There are handfuls of newly minted billionaires covering real estate and natural resources like oil, copper, iron ore and coal.
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China is undergoing a sweeping infrastructure build-out that has created an almost insatiable demand for coal, copper and iron ore (for steel production).
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Consider, gold is no more volatile than other metals yet it carries at least a 20 percent premium over copper, iron ore and coal equities.
Balochistan, with 9m out of Pakistan's 180m people, covers 44% the country's territory and contains its most valuable deposits of gas, copper, iron ore and oil.
As China has become more industrialized, it has become Australia's biggest trading partner and buyer of its commodities, including raw materials such as copper and iron ore.
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Commodities like oil, copper and iron ore just relapsed and both metallurgical and steam coal spot prices stick in the dumps despite serious cutbacks in production, worldwide.
When you look at major parts of the economy like technology, health care, basic industries, energy and even raw materials producers of copper, iron ore and chemicals, you find them flooded with cash.
Malaysia is the world's largest producer of palm oil--a cheaper substitute for vegetable or sunflower oil--and it is also blessed with an abundance of forestry, fertile agricultural land and minerals like copper and iron ore.
The grab by Argentina for control its national oil company, YPF, should throw the fear of God into investors round the globe about the way revenue-hungry politicians are trying to cash in on the global boom in natural resources like oil, gold, copper, iron ore.
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Both the iron ore and copper industries have seen China importing more goods and stockpiling.
FORBES: First-Quarter Trade Deficit Highlights China's Delicate Balancing Act
The desperate search for upside earnings surprises even embraces mining properties covering coal, iron ore and copper.
There are mountains of iron ore and copper covering parking lots and spilling over into the streets.
Prices on iron ore, copper, coal and other minerals are nearing all-time highs.
FORBES: First-Quarter Trade Deficit Highlights China's Delicate Balancing Act
Rio Tinto (nyse: RTP - news - people ), based in London, is one of the most diversified mining companies in the world, with huge reserves of iron ore, copper, aluminum and uranium.
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