Free Republic

On Tuesday, President Trump told reporters he plans to raise tariffs on copper to 50 percent. Copper futures surged by 17 percent shortly afterwards—the largest intraday gain since at least 1988. Many will make—or lose—a small fortune on Wall Steet in the coming days and weeks. No doubt, the winners will gas-up the Presidency for protecting America’s economy: tariffs are good! Meanwhile, the losers will accuse him of economic illiteracy: tariffs are bad! Which is it? Are tariffs good or bad? The answer: both. Tariffs are good when they promote economic growth or economic self-sufficiency. If not, then tariffs are...

I'm posting this as a vanity post because 20 minutes after the announcement, the only source that's published a story on this is Bloomberg, which doesn't allow re-ups. Copper is already up 11% today, having already advanced 25% year to date.

One of the copper market's biggest-ever squeezes is unfolding on the London Metal Exchange, as rapidly declining inventories push up spot prices. Spot copper traded at a $280-a-ton premium to three-month futures today, hitting the highest level seen since a record spike in 2021. The huge spot premium -- known as a backwardation -- signals a supply shortage, and it comes after a rapid drawdown in LME inventories over the past few months. Stockpiles in the LME’s warehouses serve as a buffer for manufacturers during periods of strong demand, while holders of short positions can also use them to close...

Closeup image of an ancient wooden Egyptian falcon. Researchers have found a way to repoduce the blue pigment visible on the artifact, which is the world's oldest synthetic pigment. (Credit: Matt Unger, Carnegie Museum of Natural History) =============================================================== In a nutshell * Ancient Egyptian artisans developed precise, repeatable recipes to create four distinct shades of Egyptian blue, the world’s first synthetic pigment, long before the science of chemistry existed. * The pigment’s iconic blue color comes primarily from the mineral cuprorivaite, and researchers found that even samples with only 50% cuprorivaite could produce rich, vibrant blues. * Modern scientists recreated...

The justices left in place a lower-court decision that allows the transfer of land in central Arizona known as Oak Flat that is sacred to Western Apache Indians.The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for the federal government to transfer thousands of acres of national forestland containing a Native American sacred site to a copper-mining company. The justices left in place a lower-court decision that allows the transfer of land in central Arizona known as Oak Flat. The land, which has great spiritual value to the Western Apache Indians, sits on the world’s third-largest deposit of copper ore. Justice...

A groundbreaking discovery in South America has positioned a major copper project among the world’s top resources. Lundin Mining and BHP’s joint venture uncovers rich deposits of copper, gold, and silver. Bingham copper mine, captured during the day. Credit; Shutterstock ************************************************************************ A major discovery in South America has thrust the Filo del Sol project into the spotlight. The Vicuña joint venture, formed by Lundin Mining and BHP, recently announced what is believed to be the largest greenfield copper find in the past three decades. This new find significantly boosts the project’s position, placing it among the world’s top ten copper...

Phys.org reports that a pair of rare copper-alloy Bronze Age cymbals were uncovered at a site in Oman. The instrument has highlighted a shared musical connection between ancient cultures on both sides of the Arabian Gulf. “These cymbals are the first of their kind to have been found in good archaeological contexts in Oman and are from a particularly early context that questions some of the assumptions on their origin and development," said archaeologist Khaled Douglas. When the objects were first recovered from a third-millennium b.c. Umm an-Nar culture site in Dahwa, experts recognized their similarity to examples that had...

President Donald Trump's love of gold has extended from the inside of Trump Tower to the decor of the White House... to a new island in the Pacific? The president has been offered the island of Bougainville — complete with its large gold mine — as the 'deal of the century'. Currently part of Papua New Guinea, Bougainville voted overwhelmingly for independence in a 2019 referendum — but the result wasn't legally binding. However, Bougainville's president, former rebel commander Ishmael Toroama, remains undeterred. 'Bougainville is for independence. It is only a matter of time,' he told The World in October,...

President Joe Biden on his visit to sub-Saharan Africa pledged another $600 million for a cross-continent rail corridor project Wednesday, telling regional leaders that “Africa has been left behind for much too long. But not anymore. Africa is the future.” Biden used the third and final day of his visit to Angola to showcase the Lobito Corridor railway, where the U.S. and allies are investing heavily to refurbish 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) of train lines in Zambia, Congo and Angola. The project aims to advance the U.S. presence in a region rich in cobalt, copper and other critical minerals used...

China expanding African arms sales By Andrei Chang Hong Kong, China — Increasing quantities of China-made military equipment have been finding their way to Africa, traded for oil, mineral resources and even fishing rights. Zambia has used its copper resources to pay China in a number of military deals, for instance, and Kenya has been negotiating with China to trade fishing rights for arms. Among the most popular Chinese military exports to Africa are the J-7, K-8 and Y-12 aircraft, which are relatively inexpensive and easy to operate. China sees those countries already armed with the K-8 and J-7 aircraft...

Mr Li is the face of the world's fastest growing power, China. He clinches oil deals, builds hospitals and motorways, sells merchandise, takes over companies and lays oil pipelines. Over the next few months, as part of the series Looking for Mr Li, four journalists from Radio Netherlands Worldwide and Dutch broadcaster VPRO will be reporting on the upside and the downside of globalisation, with China's expansion being the common theme in all the pieces. This report is the last to come from Zambia. The iron gates to the Chinese NFC-A company's industrial estate in Zambia's Copper Belt are shut...

Zambia Hit by Nationwide Power Blackout Monday January 21, 2008 10:31 PM By JOSEPH J. SCHATZ Associated Press Writer LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) - Zambia was plunged into darkness Monday night in what appeared to be the second nationwide power outage in three days. The electricity network went down at about 7:30 p.m. and was restored about four hours later. There was no immediate explanation for the blackout. On Saturday, Zambia was without electricity for about eight hours, leaving more than 300 miners temporarily trapped underground in the country's Copperbelt province. It was not immediately known if any miners had been...

LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday offered copper-rich Zambia a multimillion dollar investment package aimed at boosting ties with a longtime African ally. Facing mounting accusations of Chinese exploitation of African labor and resources -- an issue during last year's Zambian presidential elections -- Hu stressed that Beijing was motivated by partnership rather than purely profit. "China is happy to have Zambia as a good friend, good partner and a good brother," Hu said at a joint news conference with President Levy Mwanawasa. Speaking through an interpreter, Hu said that China's relationship with Zambia "represents a...

Africa discovers dark side of Chinese master By Colin Freeman in Chambishi, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 1:05am GMT 04/02/2007 The smooth red carpet rolled out across Africa last week for Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, did not quite reach the gates of Zambia's Chambishi copper mine. A young street child outside a Chinese-run business centre His plans to make an official visit yesterday to the plant, which re-opened under Chinese state ownership eight years ago, fell victim to a hitch he rarely encounters at home: the not-so-grateful worker. Tipped off that miners were threatening protests about poor pay and conditions,...

A 50-million-litre acid spill from a Chinese-owned copper mine in Zambia is now threatening to kill ties with Beijing, experts say.A massive acid spill from a Chinese-owned copper mine in Zambia, which has caused severe environmental damage along a major river, could also cause severe diplomatic damage between the two countries, according to observers.On February 18, a tailings dam containing acid waste from the Sino-Metals Leach Zambia copper mine – which is majority-owned by China Nonferrous Metals Industry Group – collapsed, sending 50 million litres of concentrated acid waste into a stream that connects to the Kafue River.The river is...

Long before Karen, there was Nanni. (Geni/Wikimedia Commons) ****************************************************************** Almost 4,000 years ago, a Mesopotamian man named Nanni was so disappointed with the copper he bought from a trader named Ea-nāṣir, that he decided to write a formal complaint. Today, this Bronze Age clay tablet is the oldest customer complaint we know of – and it's a doozy. Writing and trade have an inseparable history. Some of the oldest surviving examples of written language are stocktakes and ledgers recorded in the ancient Mesopotamian cuneiform script. Since copper is a key ingredient in the very bronze the age was named for,...

“Rampant copper wire theft” is plunging Los Angeles into darkness, leading city officials to install solar-powered streetlights as a fortification measure. Critics say undaunted thieves will just steal the valuable solar panels. They also wonder why Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is focusing on making infrastructure harder to steal instead of addressing theft itself. “This installation is a result of Mayor Bass’ focus on improving city services and infrastructure for Angelenos by finding innovative and new ways to solve longstanding city challenges like rampant copper wire theft,” said Bass’s office in a statement. “Solar lighting disrupts the cycle of vandalism...

A nanostructured copper alloy, Cu-Ta-Li (Copper-Tantalum-Lithium), could be a groundbreaking new high-temperature material for aerospace, defense, and industrial applications, combining properties of several materials into a useful hybrid. Developed in a collaboration between the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and Lehigh University (LU), the alloy is one of the toughest copper-based materials ever devised due to its high thermal stability and mechanical strength. Arizona State University and Louisiana State University scientists also contributed to the creation of this new heat-resistant alloy. Cutting Edge Material Science “This is cutting-edge science, developing a new material that uniquely combines copper’s excellent conductivity with...

At least 5 people have been killed and around 50 injured on July 25, 2022, after hundreds of protesters attacked a United Nations headquarters in Goma, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, demanding that the mission leaves the country for failing to protect the population. The protest started after President Felix Tshisekedi’s party and civil society organizations called for the demonstration in Goma after the president of the Senate, Modeste Bahati, called on the UN’s MONUSCO mission to leave Congo in mid-July. The mission is present in the country for more than 20 years. It is the largest peacekeeping mission...

The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Félix Tshisekedi, has reached out directly to President Donald J. Trump with a historic proposal: help defeat a brutal rebel force terrorizing his nation, and in return, America will gain direct access to one of the world’s richest untapped troves of critical minerals—worth an estimated $24 trillion. According to a letter obtained by The Wall Street Journal, President Tshisekedi offered Trump exclusive mining opportunities through the newly launched U.S. Sovereign Wealth Fund, a Trump-led initiative aimed at reshaping global investment through pro-American partnerships. “Your election has ushered in the golden age...