Franklin Mining’s Escala Mine and the Price of Copper
Keeping tabs on the price of copper is crucial with FMNJ’s Escala Mine in production mode with an estimated 200 tons ready for immediate shipment to the processing plant. November’s production is now projected to be in excess of 450 tons. FMNJ understands the issues associated with costs in mining Escala. (Please see note below regarding FMNJ’s Escala contract.)
U.S. copper futures settled up for the third straight day on Friday, with support stemming from a sharp rally on Wall Street this week and another steep decline in Shanghai warehouses, traders said.
“It’s rallying with the stock market,” said one New York-based futures commission merchant. “The correlation between the stock market and the copper market are absolutely phenomenal.”
At the New York Mercantile Exchange’s COMEX division, most-active March futures
Copper for December delivery
Final estimated futures volumes totaled 12,595 lots, compared with Thursday’s official count of 14,624 lots.
Open interest in COMEX copper futures declined 2,102 lots to 70,512 contracts as of Nov. 29.
Zachary Oxman, senior trader with Wisdom Financial in Newport Beach, California, tied the overall market strength to research data on Friday showing an inflow of $14.58 billion into U.S.-based equity mutual funds in the week ended Wednesday, compared with an outflow of $10.15 billion the previous week. [ID:nN30285705]
“It might be suggesting, at least at this point, that money is being committed to the market,” he said. “The fact that we’re seeing such a huge net inflow into U.S. stock funds tells me that there is some sort of strength besides this wave of buying, which I think you’re seeing rolling into the copper.”
Prospects of lower U.S. interest rates have fueled the bullish euphoria in both the equities and copper following comments made by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday.
A second successive large draw in weekly Shanghai copper stockpiles added to the metal’s bullish momentum on Friday.
Copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 23 percent to 34,438 tonnes in the week ended on Thursday, compared with 44,855 tonnes the previous week.
London copper stockpiles, on the other hand, extended their ascent, rising by 600 tonnes to 189,200 tonnes on Friday. COMEX copper stock levels were unchanged at 17,981 short tons on Thursday.
Despite the market’s ability to work higher this week, lingering macro-economic concerns should continue to hold a bearish influence over prices near-term, analysts said.
“In the very short term, there is scope for a modest bounce higher across the sector for no simple reason other than that prices are oversold, but lower prices are still expected as industrial metals discount fully slowing global growth,” said Robin Bhar, metals analyst with investment bank UBS.
London copper for delivery in three months
This is Escala:
Sources:
Reuters and
FranklinMining, Inc.
8024 Vantage Drive, Suite 680
San Antonio, TX 78230
William A. Petty
Chairman, CEO & President
Franklin Mining, Inc.
8024 Vantage Drive, Suite 680, San Antonio, TX 78230
210 – 525 – 1273
About the Escala Project: Comprising three separate mining applications, COMIBOL’s Escala Mine concession totals 2,000 hectares located in the Sud Lipez Province, which is near Bolivia’s border with Argentina. Franklin Mining, Bolivia S.A. has been awarded a contract to mine 500 hectares known as The Escala Mine. Escala II, Escala III, Achacana and Aguas Escala are mining applications currently assigned to another mining company.
Forward Looking Statements: The information in this release includes certain forward-looking statements that are based upon assumptions that in the future may prove not to have been accurate and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including statements to the future financial performance of the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectation or any of its forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause results to differ include, but are not limited to, successful performance of internal plans, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange, the impact of competitive services and pricing, or general economic risks and uncertainties.
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