South32 hopeful Trump will allow access to Alaska copper region
South32 is optimistic the incoming Trump administration will open up access to a copper-rich region in northwest Alaska, where the Australian miner has development rights.
If the building of a controversial industrial road to the Ambler Mining District is approved, South32 and its venture partner Trilogy Metals would be able to mine high-grade copper from an already identified deposit and ramp up exploration work for new resources, according to CEO Graham Kerr.
“It’s a long-term play, but in a couple of years we’ll know the size of the resource,” he said in an interview. “The challenge is in exploring up there, because the seasonal window is narrow,” but discovering another big deposit could be a “game-changer", he said.
The US Interior Department blocked the development of the proposed 340-km road earlier this year on environmental grounds, opting to protect 28-million hectares of federal land from minerals development. Plans to immediately approve it are outlined in documents from Project 2025 - a conservative blueprint for a second Trump term that he distanced himself from during the campaign.
Major new copper finds are rare, and have become highly coveted by miners in anticipation of surging demand for the red metal in the coming years due to the energy transition. Kerr said the geology in Ambler indicated clusters of sizable resources. Shares in Trilogy almost doubled last month following Trump’s election victory.
Comments
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
At SMS group, we have made it our mission to create a carbon-neutral and sustainable metals industry.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Weir is a global leader in mining technology. We recognise that our planet’s future depends on the transition to renewable energy, and that...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
