project · United States

Resolution Copper

A very large undeveloped copper deposit that could supply a quarter of US copper demand.

PermittingPermittingProject score 71

Operator

Rio Tinto

Country

United States

Mine life

40 yrs

Capex

—

Profile

Resource, economics and jurisdiction

Resource: Deep, high-grade porphyry copper resource requiring block cave mining.
Production: Potential production of around 500 kt copper annually.
Economics: Strong economics contingent on permitting resolution and land exchange litigation.
Infrastructure: Existing shaft infrastructure; regional water and power available.
Jurisdiction: Low risk
Ownership: Rio Tinto 55%, BHP 45%
Region: Arizona

Overview

A very large undeveloped copper deposit that could supply a quarter of US copper demand.

Methodology

Version v0.1

Resource Quality: 80 (weight 1.2) — Grade, continuity and metallurgical complexity of the resource.
Project Scale: 68 (weight 1) — Annual output potential relative to the global market for its primary mineral.
Development Stage: 75 (weight 0.9) — How far the asset has advanced toward or through production.
Jurisdiction: 70 (weight 1.1) — Political stability, permitting predictability and rule of law.
Infrastructure: 73 (weight 0.9) — Access to power, water, transport and processing capacity.
Economics: 71 (weight 1.2) — Cost position and margin resilience through the price cycle.
Strategic Importance: 71 (weight 1) — Relevance to national critical mineral strategies and allied supply chains.
Supply-Chain Value: 71 (weight 1) — Whether the asset relieves a genuine downstream bottleneck.
Sustainability: 72 (weight 0.9) — Carbon intensity, water use, tailings approach and community standing.
Execution Risk: 65 (weight 1) — Technical, financing and schedule risk to reaching nameplate output. Higher is lower risk.

Materials

Copper is the primary conductor of the electrified economy, used wherever electricity or heat must move efficiently.

Assets

The largest underground copper mine in the world, in operation for over a century.

The largest copper mine in the world by output, operating in the Atacama Desert since 1990.

A giant copper-gold complex transitioning from open pit to large-scale block cave mining.

A large copper-gold development in the Vicuna district of the high Andes.

The highest-grade major copper mine in the world, powered largely by hydroelectricity.

A very large copper-cobalt operation whose output decisions move the global cobalt market.