Copper from mine to wall wire: dug, smelted, refined, drawn

By Alykhan Virani. Published 2026-10-10.

Part 9 of the series From source to store.

USGS reported an average of 0.44% copper in porphyry deposits in 2008, the deposit type its 2010 model report called the source of about 60% of the world’s copper (USGS, 2010). More than 99% of that ore by weight was something else, and at that grade one tonne of metal sits in about 227 tonnes of ore, before counting any waste rock removed to reach it. At Escondida in Chile, BHP’s planned concentrator feed grade was 0.90% copper in the year to 30 June 2026, down from 1.02% in the year to 30 June 2025 (BHP, Form 20-F). “Copper” means mined copper in metal content unless the text says otherwise; see also who mines it and the price record.

How it is mined

Copper comes out by surface mining, underground mining or leaching, and open pits are the most common method (ICSG, 2025). Escondida’s two open pits feed three concentrators and two solvent-extraction and electrowinning plants (BHP, Form 20-F for the year to 30 June 2026). Antofagasta reported a 2025 pilot at Centinela in which X-ray fluorescence readings on a shovel let operators redirect haul trucks (Antofagasta, annual report 2025). Crushing, grinding and flotation follow (ICSG, 2025).

The second great source is different rock. USGS’s 2015 model report put the sediment-hosted share at around 20% of the world’s copper, and in the Central African Copperbelt such deposits average 2.59% copper in reduced-facies deposits and 2.20% in sandstone deposits, against 1.38% and 1.08% for those types elsewhere (USGS, 2015, from a 2012 USGS database). DR Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo) mined 3.2 million tonnes of copper in 2025, 13.9% of the world’s 23.0 million tonnes (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, mine production in copper content).

From ore to concentrate to cathode

Flotation yields a concentrate that typically holds about 30% copper, with a range from 20% to above 40% (ICSG, 2025). A smelter melts it into a matte of 50% to 70% copper, converts that to blister copper of 98.5% to 99.5%, and casts anodes for electro-refining (ICSG). The glossary defines concentrate, smelting and refining.

Some ore skips the smelter. Leaching with solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX-EW) dissolves copper, mainly from low-grade oxide ores, and plates it onto cathode. ICSG estimated that SX-EW made about 21% of mine production in 2024 and 17.4% of the 27.5 million tonnes of refined copper, against 65.5% from concentrates and 17.1% from scrap. DR Congo’s 2.6 million tonnes of refined output in 2024 came entirely from SX-EW.

The product is cathode. The London Metal Exchange (LME) accepts Grade A copper meeting one of three standards, BS EN 1978:2022, GB/T 467-2010 or ASTM B115-10 (2021), and under each the listed impurities may total no more than 0.0065% (LME, Special Contract Rules for Copper Grade A; year not stated).

The chain also throws off other metals. More than 90% of tellurium has come from the anode slimes of primary electrolytic copper refining (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026), and most of the world’s cobalt is a byproduct of copper mining in sediment-hosted deposits (USGS Professional Paper 1802-F, 2017). The by-products report maps every sourced link.

Moving it

In 2024 the world exported 43.6 million tonnes of copper ores and concentrates, product weight and not copper content, worth $105.9 billion (CEPII BACI, HS 2603); USGS tonnes elsewhere on this page are copper content, so the two cannot be divided. China imported 28.7 million tonnes, 66.0% by weight and 62.5% by value ($66.2 billion). Japan, South Korea, India and Spain took 5.2, 1.7, 1.2 and 1.1 million tonnes, and the five took 87.3% by weight. Chile sold 67.5% of its $31.0 billion of concentrate to China, and Peru sold 75.2% of its $20.5 billion there (BACI, 2024).

Concentrate travels as bulk cargo. Transport Canada’s 2024 guidance for masters loading concentrates in bulk says they fall in Group A of the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes Code, cargoes that may liquefy, and may be loaded only below their transportable moisture limit. Antofagasta says a significant proportion of its products, concentrate and cathode, are sold on CIF terms, so it arranges shipping to the destination port (annual report 2025; see FOB, CIF and Incoterms).

Antofagasta describes the concentrate invoice as the market value of refined copper less a treatment and refining charge, the TC/RC (annual report 2025). The 2025 benchmark with Jiangxi Copper was $21.25 a tonne plus 2.125 US cents a pound, about 73% below 2024 terms (S&P Global, 6 December 2024). Reuters, citing two unnamed sources, reported on 19 December 2025 that Antofagasta and a Chinese smelter agreed $0 and 0 cents for 2026, and attributed the zero to a mine supply shortage that had pushed spot fees below zero. The treatment charge entry defines the term.

Refined copper moves differently. In 2024 the world exported 10.4 million tonnes of unwrought refined copper and copper alloys worth $95.6 billion (BACI, HS 7403), 91.0% of it cathode by value (HS 740311). DR Congo led with $19.50 billion of unwrought refined copper and copper alloys, 20.4%, then Chile with $17.18 billion, 18.0%, and Japan with $7.24 billion, 7.6%. China imported $37.4 billion, 39.2%, and the United States $8.41 billion, 8.8%. The LME contract trades in 25-tonne lots, and ICSG says the exchanges provide warehouses for physical delivery (ICSG, 2025); see exchange warehouses.

Rod, wire and getting it to you

ICSG says fabricators receive copper as cathode, wire rod, billet, cake or ingot and turn it into wire, tube, sheet and castings. At its Olen, Belgium, rod mill, Aurubis melts cathode of above 99.99% copper in a shaft furnace at 1,200 degrees Celsius, casts an endless bar at about 900 degrees, rolls it to rod between 23.5 and 8 millimeters in diameter and winds coils of 3.5 to 8 tonnes (Aurubis, year not stated). Drawing then thins the rod into wire. Wire was 63% of first-use copper and copper-alloy semi-finished products in 2024, ahead of tube at 12% and flat-rolled products at 11% (International Wrought Copper Council, in ICSG 2025; alloy semis counted at 70% copper).

By end use in 2024, building construction took 26% of copper, consumer and general products 23%, infrastructure (power and telecom) 17%, transport 13%, industrial equipment 12% and other uses 9% (International Wrought Copper Council, in ICSG 2025).

Scrap joins at several points. ICSG estimated that recycled copper supplied about one third of global use in 2024, while secondary refineries made 17.1% of refined output; the refinery share counts only scrap that passes through a refinery, and ICSG’s total-use measure also counts scrap that fabricators melt directly.

Where the chain is thin

How much of the chain runs through one country?

China holds a small slice of mining and a large slice of what comes after it.

Each row uses its own source, year and basis, so read it as a profile and not as a ratio. Asia made 70% of smelter output in 2024, up from 21% in 1990 (ICSG).

What happens when one mine stops?

On 8 September 2025 about 800,000 tonnes of wet material rushed into the Grasberg Block Cave in Indonesia, and mining in the district was suspended (Freeport, 24 September 2025). Freeport said the cave was about 70% of its Indonesian unit’s forecast copper and gold output through 2029, and that 2026 output could be about 35% below an earlier estimate of about 770,000 tonnes of copper (1.7 billion pounds). On 24 September 2025 it reported two team members found fatally injured and five missing; on 5 October 2025 it reported all five found deceased, seven in total. On 2 October 2026 it reported third-quarter 2026 mill throughput of about 140,000 tonnes of ore a day, 67% of the rate before the incident, and said it expects 80% of capacity in mid-2027 (Freeport, Form 8-K). USGS lists Indonesia’s mine output, all mines, at 1.01 million tonnes in 2024 and an estimated 710,000 tonnes in 2025, without naming a cause.

What happened to US refined copper imports and prices in 2025?

A proclamation of 30 July 2025 set a 50% duty on the copper content of the semi-finished products and derivatives listed in its annex from 1 August 2025; ores, concentrates, refined copper and scrap were not in the annex. Its clause 7 asked for an update by 30 June 2026 so the President could decide on a refined copper duty of 15% from 1 January 2027 and 30% from 1 January 2028. A proclamation of 2 April 2026 moved the duty to full customs value for covered articles, and Reuters reported on 11 September 2026 that no decision on refined copper had been made. USGS estimates put US refined imports at 1.7 million tonnes in 2025 against 903,000 in 2024, and COMEX at 480 US cents a pound in 2025 against 440 for the LME, a gap of $882 a tonne against $152 in 2024 (computed; one US cent a pound is $22.05 a tonne). USGS says analysts attributed the record COMEX average mainly to uncertainty over tariffs, and it does not state a cause for the import rise.

How does copper leave DR Congo?

Ivanhoe Mines said in February 2024 that about 90% of Kamoa-Kakula’s 2023 concentrate shipped via Durban and Dar es Salaam, on round trips of approximately 40 to 50 days; a trial train loaded on 23 December 2023 reached the port of Lobito in Angola in eight days. In 2024 DR Congo exported $19.50 billion of refined copper and $3.03 billion of ores and concentrates (BACI, HS 7403 and HS 2603). On 6 August 2026 Reuters reported an order dated 29 June 2026 that prohibits exports of copper and cobalt concentrates and allows one-year waivers, after earlier bans in 2013, 2019 and 2023. The export ban entry defines the term.

Follow the data

The copper commodity page lists producers, reserves and trade, and the price page has the monthly LME series. The trade flows report maps the concentrate corridors, and how much is left sets USGS reserves of 980 million tonnes in 2025 beside 23.0 million tonnes mined, a ratio of 42.6 years that describes two numbers and predicts nothing. The producing, exporting and processing guide explains why mining and smelting sit in different countries. Country pages cover Chile, DR Congo and China.

The site’s HS code trade tables carry ores and concentrates (2603), unwrought refined copper (7403) and cathode (740311), not wire, scrap or retail prices. Nothing here is investment advice.

Prices are monthly benchmark averages that lag the market; informational only, not investment advice.