This Time, Vote Yes to the Copper Mine - 295

Marty Fittante's recent article in the Pick & Ax on Highland and Copperwood Mining was encouraging and hopeful. I appreciate his nod to U.P. copper mining being essential to improve our local economy and the United States' 21st-century energy infrastructure (aka green power revolution). He states well the UP’s role in the United State's future if the mine opens:  "The benefits of Copperwood reach far beyond the UP. Copperwood will also help fulfill a national need for copper---a critical material imperative to advanced manufacturing technologies for electrification, 21st-century energy infrastructure, and national defense."

Unfortunately, any mine, especially one just getting started, is vulnerable to the whims of the market. Markets are driven by demand, and the demand for copper has grown since 2020, reflected in its price. In 2020, it was as low as $2.19/pound. Since 2020, the price soared to almost $5/pound and is now just below $4.00.

 

What has driven the price and given the mining companies hope to pull the ore out and sell it for a profit? New powerlines, wind turbines, solar panels, heat pumps and electric vehicles need copper. It is that simple. 

If the Biden Administration had not passed the Infrastructure Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act, there is no reason to think the price of copper would consistently exceed $3/lb.

 

In the drive to save the planet, the Biden Administration rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement. We are leading the world by electrifying the nation and slowly transitioning to non-polluting sources of energy, sources dependent on copper. Under Democratic leadership, I see copper prices only increasing.

 

What could go wrong? In other words, what could drive copper prices lower, making a mine unprofitable? 

We only have to look back to the presidential election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Big Oil heavily funds the Republican Party. When Trump became President, I thought the copper mines would immediately close their office doors and leave for Canada. They surprised me. They waited until the Republicans pulled us out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Shortly after we were pulled out, the mining office closed and departed north. 

 

We are at least four years behind getting the mine started. The biggest threat to Big Oil and the Republican Party is clean energy. If we continue to progress, we will slowly replace coal, oil, and gas. But they will not go away quietly. The enemy of Big Oil is new modern powerlines, nuclear plants, wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicles. All these require an essential element, copper. If Republicans are elected, all incentives to switch to copper-intensive devices will be eliminated. If so, there goes the price of copper, and there goes the mine.

 

This next election will be fought over many issues. The main question that few people will think about and an issue which will get little ink is, "Will we stay the course on clean (copper) energy?"

 

The path to survival, scientists tell us, is to slowly phase out fossil fuels. The goal is to be halfway by 2030 and entirely independent by 2050. This means copper-intensive energy sources must replace fossil fuels. There are no half-measures on this. 

 

Republican politicians like Louisiana Oilman and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson receives $350,000 yearly from Big Oil to support his campaign. For Big Oil, this is pocket change well spent. Johnson denies climate change is happening. He leads a party bent on derailing the clean energy train.

 

Marty Fittante's report is very positive, and I liked it. But, the mine is not open yet and the mine has one more high hurdle to jump in November. Let's only count our mines open and running until when they are dug.

 

If we vote wisely and stick to the clean course, our kids will see a profitable future and a copper mine will open. 

 

Recommended reading from Science Magazine: "The War Below" by Ernest Scheyder. Amazon review: a powerfully honest and nuanced picture of what is at stake in this new fight for energy independence, revealing how America and the rest of the world's hunt for the "new oil" directly affects us all. The "new oil" is lithium and copper.

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