BUTTE -I’m sure this old ore cart has hauled a lot of copper out of the ground in Butte, but nothing like the haul trucks of today, and the copper they’re mining in Butte is at record-breaking prices, the likes of which this town has never seen.
“Times are good,” Montana Resources VP of Environmental Affairs Mark Thompson said.
With copper at just over $6 a pound, that almost seems like an understatement. The Butte mine produces about 45,000 tons of copper and molybdenum per day, both of which have been coming in at high prices in the new year.
WATCH: Butte copper mine hits jackpot as prices soar above $6 per pound
“It’s good for the business, it’s good for the employees, it’s good for the local businesses with the employees having more buying power through their profit sharing,” Thompson said.
Copper demand and its value have been increasing over the past few years.
“The push to try to convert to the green economy, you talk about electric vehicles, there’s more than 100 pounds of copper in every electric car. Wind turbines use a tremendous amount of copper, also,” Montana Bureau of Mining and Geology Interim Director John LaFave said.
Other factors include a disaster last fall at a large copper mine in Indonesia, and labor strikes at mines in Chile have cut into global copper production.
“We’re increasing demand and then all the sudden there’s been some reductions in supply internationally and, I think, there’s certainly a push to try to increase the domestic supply,” LaFave said.
The Butte mine has just over 400 employees, and operations are expected to continue as normal during this boom– regardless of the reason.
“What makes those markets go around? If I knew, I wouldn’t be sitting here being interviewed by John Emeigh; I’d be on a yacht in the Caribbean,” Thompson said.
