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copper market and concentrate
As a vital input for the burgeoning green energy sector, the global copper market is forecast to experience significant demand growth over the next decade. S&P Global Market Intelligence projects that annual global copper demand will nearly double from 25 million tonnes in 2022 to roughly 50 million tonnes by 2035. This demand outlook is expected to generate a significant supply deficit, with the pipeline of new copper projects moving towards development and production currently at an all-time low.
Located in a politically stable jurisdiction, with access to existing high-quality transport and energy infrastructure, the Caravel Copper Project is ideally positioned to capitalise on the increased copper demand.
Based on copper’s strong long-term demand outlook, major producers BHP and Rio Tinto are forecasting a copper price of US$4.50 to $5.00 per pound through to 2026.
Caravel Minerals used an assumed copper price of US$4.00/lb in its pre-feasibility studies for the Caravel Copper Project, with each US$0.50/lb increase in the copper price translating to a A$0.9 billion increase in project Net Present Value.
Results from metallurgical testwork conducted to date indicate that Caravel will produce a clean, marketable concentrate grading ~25% copper with very low impurities.
The Project’s concentrate is likely to be attractive to copper smelters seeking clean product for blending with other concentrates containing impurities above threshold levels, allowing them to meet increasingly strict import and operating conditions being imposed on the smelting industry.
The Caravel processing plant will also incorporate a Molybdenum Recovery Circuit (MRC) that will produce a 50% molybdenum by-product to the copper concentrate.
Metallurgical testwork will be ongoing throughout the Definitive Feasibility Study to better characterise and optimise the concentrate specifications to market requirements.