Contrary to a post on the SIRG I-SCAM board the supply of copper is not inexhaustible.
China will grow at 8% for the next 18 years and will need copper to sustain that growth.
But the supply of copper is dependent on many issues, Capex, water, power, strikes, accidents, ore veins and environmental issues.
For example:
Chilean copper miner Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO) hit a four-month low Friday on worries that increasing costs would eat into its premium rating, reports FT.com (subs. required).
The company, property of the Lucksic family —one of Chile’s richest— has dropped 10% since warning Wednesday that this year’s costs will be higher than expected. At 2:55 pm GMT Antofagasta shares were trading at 1,149. 
The company said higher power bills and poorer metal grades at its Esperanza and Los Pelambres mines were to blame for both the upcoming fall in copper and gold output and the increase in production costs.
Jean-Paul Luksic, the firm’s executive chairman and son of the founder, billionaire Andronico Luksic, told Estrategia ( in Spanish ) that it was precisely mounting costs what forced the firm to suspend work at the Antucoya copper project in December. This left FTSE 100 Antofagasta without one of its biggest growth project in development.
FTSE 100 is the index of the UK's largest 100 companies, and it is considered a key indicator often referred to by financial experts.
The Luksic family owns more than 60% of Antofagasta, which has exploration and mining ventures in Europe, Turkey, Australia, Africa and across the Americas and annual revenues of $4.5 billion.
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Codelco’s project in Ecuador likely to fail: report
Chilean state-own Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, will face major challenges and protests developing the Junin copper deposit in Ecuador, which are likely to lead the miner to fail, says a report released by Ecuadorian grassroots environmental organization Decoin .
Last week, the copper giant and Ecuador's state miner Enami EP got the green light to begin joined exploration on the Toisan mountain range, but that decision is being questioned by local authorities and community members, reports BNAmericas .
According to a Decoin spokesperson quoted in the article, the endorsement violates legally binding land use and development plans for the area, as well as a local ordinance designating the region as a protected area.
“Furthermore, no prior consultation process was carried out, violating communities' constitutional right to be consulted on any decision that could impact their environment. That has been violated from day one," the source was quoted as saying.
Neither Codelco nor Enami respond to request for comments on this issue.
Ecuador’s mining chamber of commerce values the country’s metals wealth at $220 billion and says the country is sitting on more than 39 million ounces of gold reserves and over 8 million metric tons of copper.
In 2008, the country withdrew over 4,000 mining concessions including Canada's Copper Mesa (formerly Ascendant Copper) rights to explore Junin.
NOTE: Ascendant and its subsidiary, Copper Mesa, were the owners of SIRG's Chloride Copper Mine.
Recently re-elected President Rafael Correa rewrote the country’s mining laws the following year to give the state greater control over the country’s mineral resources.
Since then, his administration has supported investment in the country’s mining industry .
Last year, Ecuador signed a contract with Chinese company Ecuacorriente for the investment of $1.4 billion in the first large-scale copper project in the nation. And Canada’s Kinross Gold Corp. (TSX:K), (NYSE:KGC) is to develop the Fruta del Norte project , the largest gold deposit in Ecuador.
