News Excerpt:
The US and China are competing to acquire the metal, which is essential for EVs and data centers. It is also at the center of a $39 billion takeover battle.
More about News:
- The U.S administration started huddling with potential investors about taking a stake in the company’s Zambian mines worth as much as $3 billion.
- The search is not limited to American companies; firms from the United Arab Emirates, Japan, and Saudi Arabia nations considered allies of the U.S.
- All have also shown interest in acquiring a stake in First Quantum Minerals' assets.
- The goal is simple to keep it out of Chinese control and Prevent the Asian superpower from tightening its grip over the global supply of crucial metals and minerals.
- The bidding is part of a global rush to acquire more copper,
- A key component in everything from electric cars to transmission lines and the data centers powering the AI revolution.
- BHP Group's record $43 billion takeover bid for Anglo American, which was rejected, highlights the intense demand for copper assets.
- The U.S. is concerned that consolidation in the copper industry could limit overall supply, and that China could also pressure BHP to sell more copper to address potential anti competitive concerns.
America's Strategic Mineral Investment Push:
- The U.S. doesn’t have a ministry for mining, a sovereign wealth-fund or much of a domestic mining industry.
- That has put it at a disadvantage with China, which can direct its state-owned enterprises to invest heavily no matter how commodity prices are performing.
- The U.S. government has limited funds for national security projects,
- so it must collaborate with private companies and allied nations with sovereign wealth funds to encourage investment in assets that serve national interests.
U.S. Rallies Private Investors:
- The U.S. has committed over $1 billion to the Lobito Corridor in Angola, Congo, and Zambia to develop infrastructure for exporting critical minerals.
- Also in Zambia, the U.S. last year urged the U.A.E. to consider investing in Mopani Copper Mines, according to people familiar with the matter.
- The effort was successful:
- Zambia chose the U.A.E.’s International Resources Holding as a new equity partner.
- A central part of the U.S. effort is the International Development Finance Corp., a federal agency that helps finance projects overseas including
- A multibillion-dollar copper mine in Pakistan and
- Investments in companies like TechMet, which owns stakes in various critical mineral mines..
- Chinese miners, backed by the government, are rapidly snapping up mining assets, including
- A potential deal for Chemaf, a metals producer in Congo, which Western companies like Chilean Cobalt Corp. were interested in but found too expensive.
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India’s copper potential:
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