Copper Prices Headed Up for the Long-Term, Experts Say

Despite a fall in the price of copper from last year's high of nearly $7,000 per ton in the spot market, the price is significantly trending up again.

According to the Finanical Times, metals analysts at Citgroup see "very strong fundamentals" for higher copper prices over the long-term. Max Layton, a Macquarie metals analyst in the U.K., said, "The market believes that the copper rally is going to be long-lived," the FT reported ("Cooper Rally Has Longevity, Say Bulls," Aug. 25, 2009).

Chile and Peru -- home base for many LLM students from our program -- are considered especially good locations in which to mine for copper.

From my own perspective it is difficult to see how the price of copper will go down substantially anytime soon, particularly in light of the growing economies in China and India that will need vast amounts of copper to carry out electrification projects. On the other hand, there are many political, environmental, and financial risks that will need to be taken into consideration as cooper becomes an even more sought after mineral. The graduate program features several mining law courses that explore these issues.