Making sense of the geology in the copper mining economy

Abstract

Despite the ongoing debate since the middle of the last century, there is still a lack of knowledge about the real existence of the technologically and economically accessible minerals. To overcome this situation, it is necessary to start improving geological information in many aspects, from the precision of the cartographic knowledge in promising areas, to the development of more precise patterns of mineralization and, above all, to their geological controls. The gradual decrease in the metal grades exploited, as well as a production undergoing continuous growth, brings the distant threat of exhaustion to the debate, which has become separated from the real or geological context. Regarding the future, there are two very different points of view: analysts who see the prices of mineral raw materials as being stationary in the long term, concluding that the shortage of metals, in general, will not be a problem at the moment. Others, however, conclude that the price relationship over time has a U-shape and, therefore, scarcity will increase in the long run. However, during the last century and in periods of a surge in consumption, there has never been any problem of scarcity, merely a temporary loss of supply-demand balance.