Southern Copper sits at the bottom of the global copper cost curve, which has kept it profitable through every downturn. Byproduct sales of molybdenum, zinc and silver from the same ore cut its net cost to 5 cents a pound last quarter. Over 21 years its worst net margin was +12.7%, while Freeport-McMoRan's was -82.7% in 2015; when prices fall, higher-cost mines slip into losses while Southern Copper stays above the line. x.com  x.com 

Copper keeps setting all-time highs, now $6.65 a pound, on rising demand and an increasingly tight supply backdrop. Two of the world's most important copper miners, Freeport-McMoRan and Ivanhoe, have both cut ramp-up expectations for Grasberg and Kamoa-Kakula, respectively. x.com 

Freeport-McMoRan is an excellent way to capture a structural commodities bull market. Goldman Sachs, in its first Buy rating, calls it the best exposure to a structural copper shortage, plus gold. Per Goldman, electrification lifts copper demand 2.1% a year to 2030 while falling ore grades raise costs. Grasberg's gold by-product and US leaching at about $1 a pound, aiming for 800 million pounds a year by 2030, could lift EBITDA margins above 50% and fund $19 billion-plus of free cash flow. x.com 

David Einhorn's Greenlight expects Century Aluminum to beat consensus because sell-side estimates miss subsidy and tariff benefits and assume lower aluminum prices. Greenlight forecasts 2027 EPS of $14 versus $10.75 consensus and about $2.97 billion of cumulative free cash flow through 2028, roughly 90% of enterprise value. x.com 

Copper miners stand to gain as the massive AI infrastructure buildout drives copper demand sharply higher through 2027, continuously pushing prices up; now is an excellent buying opportunity. LME copper topped $14,000/ton and COMEX $6.65/lb on rebounding Chinese demand, tight Middle East sulfur supply and AI data-center power needs. A 350,000-ton global shortfall is projected for 2026, and miners offer 2-3x leverage to copper price moves. x.com 

Freeport-McMoRan's chart sets up a move to $80+. It broke out to a monthly all-time high, the weekly 9MA held at the day's low, and the daily shows a very bullish inverse head and shoulders after touching the 200MA near $50. A trader also bought $1.6M of August 21 $70 calls, a flow flagged as highly confident. x.com 

Copper's structural deficit does not yet look priced in, with the copper/gold ratio still near multi-decade lows. JPMorgan forecasts a 330kt copper deficit in 2026, AI data centers may need over 1 million tons a year by 2030, EVs use about 4x the copper of gas cars, new mines take 15-20 years to build, and ore grades have declined for decades. x.com 

Copper is one of the clearest trades over the next three years because supply is worse than most realize while AI accelerates demand. Chile, about a quarter of global production, just hit a nine-year production low, and copper miners have held up far better than silver and gold. Deutsche Bank forecasts copper soaring 50% to $22,050 a ton. x.com 

Freeport-McMoRan can grow copper output at high margins without building new mines, using proprietary leaching and heated solution injection in Arizona. These already add over 200 million pounds a year, with longer-term targets of 400-800 million. Barclays initiated at Overweight with a $77 target and UBS raised its target to $75. AI data centers, grid upgrades and a forecast copper deficit drive demand, while gold by-product credits lower net copper costs. x.com 

Copper miners should catch up to copper once oil comes down and logistics chains reopen. Supply pressure plus AI demand have created a perfect storm that pushed copper to new all-time highs. The pattern target is 115, with 92 as the breakout line. x.com