US mine development timeline second-longest in world, S&P Global says
By Ernest Scheyder
July 18 (Reuters) -It takes an average of nearly 29 years to build a new mine in the U.S., the second-longest in the world behind only Zambia, hampering Washington's efforts to boost output of lithium, nickel and other metals for the energy transition, a report said on Thursday.
The report by consultancy S&P Global SPGI.N comes amid rising pressure on U.S. officials to streamline what is seen by mining companies and some policymakers as a confusing and lengthy process to obtain a mining permit that harms efforts to offset China's near-total control of the critical minerals sector.
S&P studied 268 mining projects across the globe from when a metal deposit was first discovered until production began. The report found the development timeline in copper- and cobalt-rich Zambia to be the longest in the world at roughly 34 years, five years longer than the U.S.
Canada, Argentina and Mongolia - where Rio Tinto RIO.AXRIO.L developed the Oyu Tolgoi copper project - rounded out the top five longest development periods.
Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Laos had some of the shortest development times in the world, at roughly 10 to 15 years, while Australia at 20 years was the best among countries most comparable to the U.S.
The report, which did not offer policy recommendations, was paid for in part by the National Mining Association, a U.S. industry trade group. S&P Global said the NMA did "not provide data or substantive input."
The NMA is helping lead a campaign to convince Washington to revive the long-dormant U.S. Bureau of Mines, Reuters reported this month. The S&P report noted that Canada and Australia have federal-level mining offices.
Data on Rio and BHP's BHP.AX Resolution Copper project in Arizona and Northern Dynasty's NDM.TO Pebble copper and gold project in Alaska - neither of which are permitted - were included in the report, which assumed they would open by 2030. Both projects have faced Indigenous and environmental opposition that the report did not offer suggestions to overcome.
The report did not discuss how increased use of copper leaching by Freeport-McMoRan FCX.N and others - processes that do not require new permits - could affect U.S. output of that key metal.
A high rate of litigation against U.S. mining projects, the report found, has dampened exploration budgets, with companies with projects in Canada and Australia spending 81% and 57% more, respectively, to find new deposits than those in the U.S. in the past 15 years.
That was despite the U.S. having more than twice the copper and lithium reserves and resources of those countries, S&P data show.
The 28-page report also found that, globally, gold mines are developed the fastest, at an average of 15.2 years, with nickel mines developing the slowest, at an average of 17.5 years.
Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Jamie Freed
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務，允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容，但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限，並受以下條款與條例約束：（i）條款與條例；（ii）風險提示；（iii）完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊，僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意，我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成，也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料，僅適用於教育/資訊類用途，不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議，或是交易價格紀錄，或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容，包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接，皆爲‘按原狀’，並作爲一般市場評論所提供，而非投資建議。請理解和接受，所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容，並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性，而根據法律要求所編寫，而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊，相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。
