China Approves Largest Copper Mine In The World In Its Bid To Outpace US

China has approved a major expansion of the Julong copper mine in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau which will make it the largest copper mine in the world. This is a part of the country's continued push to secure more sources of the strategically important metal.

Critical Copper

As an excellent conductor of electricity, only silver is more efficient, it is used in all manner of wiring and battery technology. It is used in generating electricity, in transporting it, in storing it. In short, copper is fundamental to the functioning of the modern world. With the race to transition away from fossil fuels heating up, copper is only becoming more precious.

Competition 

As a finite resource, it is incumbent on nations to secure access. China and the US are in a race to shore up their supply lines. The Julong expansion is the latest move by the CCP, but the competition spans the globe. 

Zambia has vast stores of copper (as well as cobalt) and the US and China are spending billions to develop more efficient rail lines and infrastructure to extract the metals. Each superpower is hoping to spend its way to a cozier relationship with the mineral-rich African country and edge the other out.

Opportunities For Investors

Investing in precious metals, especially those like copper essential to the energy transition, is a solid strategy. However, accessing them can be confusing – and sometimes dangerous territory – for many retail investors as futures markets require a level of sophistication that many lack.

ETFs provide a simpler solution. Many issuers now offer funds that allow investors to access futures markets through their broker as if buying a stock.

Commodities, however, are cyclical in nature, with prices rising and falling as supply and demand waxes and wanes.

Teucrium offers the AiLA Long-Short Base Metals Strategy ETF OAIB as a solution. The ETF invests in a selection of critical base metals, like copper, and adopts a market-neutral strategy, meaning that regardless of the direction of the market, the fund seeks a positive return.

OAIB tracks the AiLA-S022, a sophisticated index with a proven track record. From 2017-2023 the AiLA-S022 saw an annualized return of 12.65%. AiLA uses a systematic approach to achieve this, utilizing proprietary machine-learning technology.

Photo by Ra Dragon on Unsplash.