The Cost of Mining Copper: A 2024–2025 Update

Copper futures touched an all-time high above $6.58 per pound on May 12, 2026, capping a 40.86% gain over the prior twelve months as supply tightness collided with structural demand from grid build-out, electric vehicles, and AI data centers. In our previous analysis of copper production costs, we tracked how inflation, declining ore grades, and surging input costs pushed unit costs sharply higher across the major producers between 2019 and 2023. This update extends that picture through the now-closed 2024 and 2025 reporting cycles, and the story has shifted.