Rio Tinto is moving forward with exploration and planning for the Resolution Copper deposit in Arizona, targeting a mine opening in the early to mid-2030s, a senior company executive told Reuters. The miner this month secured control of the land required to build one of the worlds largest copper mines after resolving a protracted legal dispute that had limited access.
With the acreage now under its control, Rio Tinto has launched a $500 million drilling campaign focused on the roughly 30% of the deposit that was previously inaccessible. The company said the new drilling will be central to determining an operational timetable for the project, although it reiterated that first copper production is expected within a decade.
"We are quite committed to bringing copper on as quickly as we can," Katie Jackson, head of Rios copper business, said on the sidelines of the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston. "This is something we want to do in the early to mid 2030s."
The firm also operates the Kennecott copper mine and smelter in Utah, and the company noted that all of Kennecotts production is consumed domestically in the United States. The article also noted that the only other U.S. copper smelter is operated by Freeport-McMoRan.
Rios immediate focus is the intensive exploration program aimed at the portion of the deposit that the company could not previously access. Company representatives described the drilling as a necessary step to convert the newly available acreage into an actionable production plan. While the new work is substantial in scale, the company maintained that the fastest path to initial output remains within a ten-year horizon from now.
The timeline provided by Rio Tinto emphasizes a multi-year development process - from exploration and permitting through construction - with the company publicly framing the project as a priority in its copper portfolio. The firms statements at the conference underline a commitment to accelerate development where feasible, while tying any specific production dates to the results of the ongoing exploration.
What remains clear from the companys announcements:
- Rio Tinto has acquired control of the remaining acreage required to develop Resolution Copper.
- The company has initiated a $500 million drilling program focused on the 30% of the deposit it previously could not access.
- Rio expects first copper from the project within a decade and says it aims to bring the mine online in the early to mid-2030s.