26th Int'l Copper Conference

· Peter Willbrandt, CEO, Aurubis, Germany

· Javier Targhetta, President, Atlantic Copper, Spain, and SVP Marketing & Sales, Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold, USA

· Rodrigo Toro, Corporate Sales Vice President, Codelco, Chile

· Riccardo Garré, CEO, KME Group SpA, Italy

• Christoph Eibl, CEO, Tiberius Asset Management, Switzerland

· Steve Higgins, President Freeport-McMoRan Sales Co Inc, & VP Marketing & Sales, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, USA

· Steven Lewis, Senior Copper Analyst, Wood Mackenzie, UK

· Robin Bhar, Director & Head of Metals Research, Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking, UK

· Mark Jevons, Senior Vice President, Jefferies Bache Limited, UK

· Max Layton, Senior Metals Expert, Goldman Sachs, UK

· Klaus Hieronymi, Global Resource Efficiency Strategies, Hewlett Packard, USA/Germany

· Diego García Carvajal, Director, Centro Español de Información del Cobre, Spain

· Zhong Min, Vice General Manager, Jinrui Futures Ltd, China

· Huo Ruirong, Executive Vice President, Shanghai Futures Exchange, China

· Jose Luis Blanco, Partner & Head of Climate Change & Sustainability, EMEA/South Asia Advisory, KMPG Asesores SL, Spain

· Christian Tchounda, Strategic Sourcing Director, Essex Europe, France

· Tom Coghill, Head of Metal Sales, Europe & Africa,& Director, Financial Markets, Standard Chartered Bank, UK

· Juan Diego Diaz, Marketing Director, Gamesa Corp, Spain

· Amir Hadi Tabdili, Advisor to the GM International Affairs, NICICO, Iran

· Mario Lorencatto, Chief Financial Officer, Paranapanema, Brazil

· Ceaser Siwale, Chief Executive Officer, Pangaea Securities Ltd, Zambia

Copper prices and market strength remain as unpredictable as ever. In the short term there is no question that demand fundamentals,  particularly in China, have put a bit of a dampener on terminal market expectations.  China, the powerhouse of copper consumption over the past two decades, has seen a slowing in real copper demand growth in 2012 – some would even argue an overall contraction in use – while inventories in the country have risen.  As a result pressure is on for a reduction in contract premiums and a rise in TC/RCs.
 
However, over the mid to longer term , the picture is one of continued volatility, high premiums and mine supply concerns. Within the base metals complex copper’s fundamentals remain strong. Exchange stocks are at their lowest levels in five years,  demand is gradually recovering in the USA and other developed countries,  and there is further infrastructure and consumer spending to come  in China and the emerging markets.
 
Mine-side supply slippage will also help underpin market balances and prices. Ore grades globally continue to decline while mining costs rise, and interest in new mining provinces in Africa and Asia is strong. The tussle over Anglo Sur demonstrated all too clearly the importance to producers of having strong assets in the portfolios. 
 
As we move into and through 2013, the copper market will be looking for pointers as to the strengths and pressure points along the industry chain and what this will mean for underlying prices, TC/RCs and premiums for delivered material. Metal Bulletin’s International Copper Conference in Madrid will provide the first opportunity of 2013 for senior industry debate and insight into the red metal’s fortunes.  

Topics to be covered:
 

Optional post-conference visit to
Emed Mining’s Rio Tinto mine and Inmet Mining’s Las Cruces mine and hydrometallurgical plant
7 – 8 March 2013

Emed Mining is an exploration and development company that is redeveloping the former Rio Tinto open-pit copper mine in southwest Spain, where mining ceased in 2000 due to low copper prices. The historic Rio Tinto mine is located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, 65 km northwest of Seville, and the orebody has proven and probable reserves of 123m tonnes grading 0.48% Cu. Subject to final permitting and completion of engineering work, production is planned for the second half of 2013, rising to the full 9 million tpy in 2014.

Canadian-based global mining company Inmet produces copper, and zinc. Its three active operations are the Cayeli copper-zinc mine in Turkey, the Pyhäsalmi copper-zinc mine in Finland and the Las Cruces copper mine in southern Spain. Las Cruces is a volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit grading an average 6.2% Cu. The operation includes an open-pit mine, leaching circuit and electrowinning plant producing copper cathode. The plant is designed to produce approximately 72,000 tpy of copper cathode which is shipped as final product.

Delegates will depart from Madrid on the afternoon of March 7 for the train journey to Seville. After dinner and an overnight stay in the beautiful and historic city of Seville, they will travel by bus the following morning, first to Rio Tinto to visit the mine development and processing facilities, followed by a tour of the nearby Las Cruces mine and hydrometallurgical plant. They will return to Seville late afternoon for the return train journey to Madrid or onward flights home.

Provisional itinerary

Thurs March 7

15.00 Depart conference hotel

16.00 Depart Madrid Atocha station by AVE rapid train

18.30 Arrive Seville and transfer to hotel

20.00 Dinner

Friday March 8

07.30 Depart by bus for Rio Tinto

09.00 Arrive Rio Tinto for introduction and safety briefing

09.30 Tour of mine and processing plant

11.45 Depart for Las Cruces

13.00 Arrive Las Cruces for light lunch hosted by Inmet, introduction and safety briefing

14.00 Tour of mine and hydrometallurgical plant

17.00 Depart for Seville

17.30 Arrive Seville for onward travel home

Optional post-conference visit to
Atlantic Copper’s Huelva smelter and refinery
7-8 March 2013

Atlantic Copper, a fully-owned subsidiary of Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold, produces some 310,000 tpy of copper anodes, and 284,000 tpy of cathodes at its Huelva smelter and refinery in southwest Spain. Its main by-products are sulphuric acid (around 1m tpy) and electrolytic slimes rich in gold (25 tpy) and silver (75 tpy). The Huelva plant has the capacity to process 1m tpy of copper concentrates using an Outokumpu Flash Furnace and four Pierce-Smith converters, and 1,120 Isa Process electrolytic cells into LME grade A cathode.

Delegates will depart from Madrid on the afternoon of March 7 for the train journey to Seville. After dinner and an overnight stay in the beautiful and historic city of Seville, they will travel by bus to Huelva on the morning of March 8 for the smelter and refinery visit. Following lunch hosted by Atlantic Copper, they will return to Seville for the return train journey to Madrid or onward flights home.

Provisional itinerary

Thurs March 7

15.00 Depart conference hotel

16.00 Depart Madrid Atocha station by AVE rapid train

18.30 Arrive Seville and transfer to hotel

20.00 Dinner

Friday March 8

09.00 Depart by bus for Huelva

10.15 Arrive Atlantic Copper for introduction and safety briefing

11.00 Tour of smelter, refinery and acid plant

13.15 Questions and light lunch provided by Atlantic Copper

14.30 Depart plant for Seville

16.00 Arrive Seville

On registering for the conference delegates will be sent more detailed information and booking details