US White House lauds Highland Copper mining expansion efforts

In a publication called ‘Fact Sheet: President Donald Trump Strengthens Tariffs on Steel, Aluminium and Copper Imports – Bolstering Domestic Manufacturing of Strategic Metals and their Derivative’, Trump also acknowledges companies such as Ivanhoe Electric, Rio Tinto and Wieland for their expansion of US copper mining, smelting and fabrication.

The fact sheet outlines actions under the April 2 proclamation focused on strengthening actions taken to adjust imports of aluminium, steel and copper into the US. It particularly addresses “tariffs imposed on imported steel, aluminium, and copper to more effectively address the national-security threat posed by such imports, and to protect the national security of the US including the economic resilience of vital industries and the financial position of American workers.

In July last year, copper was added to the US's Section 232 programme to have the same 50% tariff rate as steel and aluminium.

Further, the fact sheet mentions that new US aluminium and copper smelting is underway across America, with Century Aluminum and Emirates Global Aluminium having announced a joint venture to build the first new aluminium smelter in the US (Oklahoma) in decades.

Highland CEO Barry O’Shea says the White House statement is an important acknowledgement of Highland’s Copperwood project and reflects the company’s visibility to the administration and key US federal agencies.

“We look forward to continuing discussions on federal funding opportunities at the US Export Import Bank, from which Highland received a Letter of Interest for $250-million in project financing, in addition to early engagement with the Department of War and the Department of Energy, as we continue to drive the Copperwood project to a near-term construction decision.”

Copperwood is poised to be an 11-year operation with yearly production of just under 65-million pounds of copper and 107 000 oz of silver.