The first calculation of reserves since acquisition of the Ray copper mine in 1986 in Arizona have been completed says Richard de J. Osborne, chairman of Asarco (NYSE).
The new figure is in excess of 1.1 billion tons grading 0.63% copper. Reserves at Ray in 1986 were 677 million tons grading 0.70% copper. Also, the company’s new CONTOP furnace at its El Paso smelter is expected to have its construction finished during the first quarter of 1993. Asarco’s vice-president of sales, Robert Bothwell, said the company’s forecast of world growth in copper demand at 2.4% is proving out. Growth is being stimulated by continued recovery in the U.S. and new infrastructure requirements in the developing Asian countries.
By the end of the decade, the company estimates global consumption will be an additional 2.8 million tons of copper over current levels. The company says the market will need as much as 1.6 million tons of new copper by the year 2000.
Bothwell noted that silver consumption has grown at an annual rate of 5.1% since 1985. There will be a cumulative supply deficit of nearly 1.7 billion oz. from 1989 through 2000. Projections also show the previous buildup of 843 million oz. will be eliminated by 1997.
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