Anna Dalaire
Feb 9, 2026
Copper demand is accelerating, but new discoveries, permitting, and project timelines are not keeping pace.
Copper supply is getting tighter, and the gap is becoming harder to ignore.
Since 2013, the world has uncovered just 14 major copper deposits. That is less than 5% of all discoveries since 1990. At the same time, demand keeps rising.
Exploration budgets remain well below 2012 levels. Ore grades have fallen sharply over the past 30 years. Permitting timelines can stretch up to 15 years. That means new supply is slower, harder, and more expensive to bring online.
And even existing projects are running into trouble.
Grasberg has been delayed. Kamoa-Kakula has been slowed. Cobre Panama remains in limbo. These are major copper sources, and all three matter at a time when the world needs more metal, not less.
Meanwhile, demand is accelerating from every direction. AI infrastructure, electric vehicles, solar, wind, battery plants, and grid expansion all rely heavily on copper.
This is why the market setup matters.
Old mines are fading. New projects are stuck in long timelines. Demand is becoming more structural. S&P Global has warned of a possible copper shortfall by 2035, and the pressure is already building.
For copper companies, the question is not just whether they have a project. It is whether investors can clearly understand how that project fits into the coming supply picture.
In a tighter market, visibility supports credibility.
The copper crunch is not just coming. It is already taking shape.
Read my article The Invisible Web of Copper.
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