Hudbay and Mitsubishi Approve $2.07 Billion Arizona Copper Mine

Hudbay Minerals and Mitsubishi have formally approved the construction of the Copper World mine in Arizona, an open-pit operation scheduled to begin production in the second half of 2029. The project requires $2.07 billion in initial capital to establish the site, which is located 31 miles southeast of Tucson.

Hudbay owns 70% of the project and expects its contributions to be approximately $500 million. Mitsubishi holds a 30% stake and has committed $600 million in equity investment. Additionally, Wheaton Precious Metals provided a $230 million deposit to secure future supplies of precious metals from the mine.

The facility will produce copper and molybdenum concentrates, with an expected annual output of 102,000 metric tons of copper over its first 10 years. This production will effectively double the total annual copper output of Hudbay to approximately 250,000 tons.