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Copper mine west of Tucson poised for restart

According to this Reuters story, yet another copper mine in Arizona is poised to go back into production.

Nord Resources Corp. is gearing up operations at the Johnson Camp Mine, about 65 miles west of Tucson, an open-pit heap-leach operation that closed in 2003 due to low copper prices.

Nord secured an air-quality permit from the Arizona Dept. of Environmental Quality last month that was the company’s last hurdle to clear before reopening the mine.

The company’s CEO told Reuters that the mine’s full production could reach 25 million pounds of copper by spring 2009.

With new mines popping up and old mines like Johnson Camp returning to production, it’s pretty clear that Arizona’s copper industry is hot. But with copper prices tied closely to global economic conditions, is the industry poised for a fall?

Only time will tell.

John Collins Rudolf