Anglo American, a mining giant and its majority owner, has, along with another investor, spent over $5bn getting it up and running.
In the past when commodity prices were surging, as they have been of late , the world’s miners would be piling into projects like Quellaveco.
The big five miners consolidated their market power with a spate of huge mergers in the 2000s, just in time for China’s emergence as a voracious consumer of metals.
Even as rising metals prices have padded profit margins, spending on exploration has stayed low, notes Danielle Chigumira of Bernstein, a broker .
A year later Jakob Stausholm became boss of Rio Tinto, after his predecessor was fired in the wake of the destruction of a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal site in Australia.
Mines across the world are emitting less carbon dioxide, as operators invest in renewable power and try to electrify mining vehicles.
If the world is to meet the Paris climate agreement’s target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the demand for metals such as cobalt, copper, lithium and nickel will explode.
Iron ore and fossil fuels still account for over half their mining revenues and three-quarters of their gross operating profits.
One mining executive fears that the fat returns have changed the make-up of his shareholders, attracting yield-hungry investors averse to growth projects.
When the project comes online in a few years it may add 2-3% to Rio’s revenue, reckons Liam Fitzpatrick of Deutsche Bank.
Even when miners find a seam, increasing output is a slog—and becoming more of one as public pressure mounts on miners to mitigate risks to the local environment and residents.
A new bill making its way through parliament could slap an 80% tax on mining profits.
If prices stay high—which some mining bosses doubt given their rapid rise, as well as copper’s slide since its peak in May—certain big projects in tricky places like the DRC may begin to look attractive again.
On June 8th the White House published an inter-agency review of supply chains, arguing for more action in securing critical minerals, including lithium and nickel.
Some of the shortfall could perhaps be met by substituting other metals or more recycling of previously used ones.