Copper miners lift after deadly mud rush in Indonesia hits supply
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The news: Copper miners were leading gains on the ASX in morning trade as the price of the commodity surged after US-based Freeport-McMoRan said force majeure was declared on contracted supplies from the world’s second largest producing mine after a deadly mud rush incident.
The numbers: At 10:47am AEST, shares in Capstone Copper had lifted 7.6% to $12.12 per share. It was the biggest gainer on the ASX 200.
Fellow copper miner Sandfire Resources (+7.5%) was the next biggest gainer while diversified miners Rio Tinto (+3.5%), BHP (+3.2%) and South32 (+2.5%) were also posting gains.
At last close, the price of copper for delivery in three months rose 3.6% to USD10,336.50 ($15,685.49) per tonne on the London Metal Exchange. This is the highest level in more than a year.
The context: Overnight, Freeport-McMoRan said the force majeure had affected contracted supplies from its Grasberg mine in Indonesia, the world’s second-largest copper mine by production volume, following a ‘mud rush’ incident on 8 September.
The company has confirmed that two employees were killed, with five others still missing. About 800,000 metric tones of wet material had entered the mine and rapidly hit multiple levels.
Freeport-McMoRan cut its 2025 third quarter sales guidance by 4% for copper and 6% for gold.
The sources: Bloomberg, Freeport-McMoRan media release
