ICSG PRESS RELEASE

Date Issued: 16th March 20110

New Edition of Directory of Copper Mines and Plants

The International Copper Study Group released the March 2011 Edition of its Directory of Copper Mines and Plants that provides global facility-by-facility production capacity data and summary country capacity for the period from 2009 to 2014. The Directory, which has entries for about 1000 individual facilities and incorporates updates to their capacity and ownership revealed through February 2011, also includes charts/tables on the current and long-term global distribution of capacity by country, size, and process type. The biannual Directory is available for sale to ICSG member country/non-member country clients at the single issue rate of 400/600 and annual subscription rate of 500/750. Contact ICSG for purchasing details (mail@icsg.org). Based on existing facilities and announced project developments, annual mine production capacity in the period 2011 to2014 is expected to grow at an average rate of around 4.9% per year (%/yr) to reach 24.1 Mt in 2014, an increase of around 4.1 Mt (21%) from that in 2010. In part, owing to delays in the development of projects originally slated to come on stream earlier, 71% of this growth (almost 3 Mt) is expected to occur in 2013/2014, especially in the case of concentrates. Of the total mine production capacity increase, copper in concentrate capacity is expected to increase by 3.5Mt (5.2%/yr) to reach 18.9 Mt and solvent extractionelectrowinning (SX-EW) production capacity by 675,000t (3.6%/yr) to reach 5.1 Mt. Most of the new mine projects and expansions are located in Brazil, Chile, China, DRC, Mongolia, Peru, the United States and Zambia, which together account for around 3.1 Mt (76%) of the projected mine capacity increase during this period (Chile and Peru representing 16% and 20%, respectively, of total growth.) Annual smelter capacity growth is projected to lag behind the growth in concentrate, growing by an average of only 3%/yr to reach 20.6 Mt in 2014, an increase of 2.3 Mt (12%) from that in 2010. Almost all growth will occur in Asia (97%), with expansions and new projects expected in China (58% of the total world growth), and in India, Iran and Kazakhstan (combined 39% of world total world growth). At higher capacity utilization rates, which averaged only around 82% in 2010, smelter capacity should be sufficient to accommodate the growth in concentrate production. The ICSG tabulations indicate that world refinery capacity will reach 27.5 Mt in 2014, an increase of 3.6 Mt (15%) from that in 2010. About 2.9 Mt of the expansion is expected to come from electrolytic refineries and 675,000t from electrowinning capacity. Electrolytic refinery capacity growth is projected to average 3.7%/yr and is generally tied to the growth of smelter capacity. More that one half (2 Mt) of the world refinery capacity increase during this period is expected to come from electrolytic refineries in China; about 30% (1.1 Mt) from electrolytic capacity increases in India, Indonesia, Iran and Kazakhstan; and about 16% (570,000 t) from electrowinning capacity increases in DRC, Peru and Zambia.

Projected World Copper Production Capacities until 2014

('000t Cu)
SX-EW Concentrates Total Mines Total Smelters Electrolytic Refineries Total Refineries

2010
4,457 15,441 19,898 18,277 18,742 23,908

2011
4,598 15,737 20,335 18,696 19,232 24,589

2012
4,719 16,375 21,094 19,286 20,182 25,620

2013
4,874 17,475 22,349 19,971 21,122 26,715

2014
5,133 18,905 24,038 20,551 21,672 27,524

accumulated growth %
15.2% 22.4% 20.8% 12.4% 15.6% 15.1%

Avg annual growth 2010-2014

3.6% 5.2% 4.9% 3.0% 3.7% 3.6%

Year on Year Growth (tonnage)

SX-EW Concentrates Total Mines Total Smelters Electrolytic Refineries Total Refineries

2010/11
141 296 437 419 490 681

2011/12
121 638 759 590 950 1,031

2012/13
155 1,100 1,255 685 940 1,095

2013/14
259 1,430 1,689 580 550 809

accumulated growth
676 3,464 4,140 2,274 2,930 3,616

Background notes: Economic conditions, as well as technological and business factors, may result in production levels that vary from the indicated capacities. Similarly, production levels may be affected by newly-announced capacity additions, expansions, and closures or by the delay, advancement, or cancellation of projects. The biannual ICSG Directory of Mines and Plants provides basic data for all copper mining, smelting and refining operations on a world-wide basis and projects the development of future capacities for these operations. These projections can serve as a basis for forecasts of the supply side development for copper. Each edition is complemented by a list of web addresses of companies, enabling quick and easy access to more company details. The ICSG database is continually updated to reflect recent announcements and operational changes. Salient details for each operation are included and the Directory separates operations between Operating and Developing and Planned (Exploration and Feasibility) stages.