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2026 AGENDA

 
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09:00

09:00 - 11:00

120 Minutes

Stream 1: CRU Academic Challenge

CRU Academic Challenge is a competition organized by CRU that challenges teams of students to develop the conceptual design (initial phase) of a copper mining project through a technical, economic, environmental and social analysis, using information provided by CRU and complementary public sources.

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09:00

09:00 - 17:00

480 Minutes

Stream 2: Lithium

11:00

11:00 - 12:30

90 Minutes

Stream 1: From high-grade exceptions to low-grade reality: the technologies that can move the supply dial

  • How is technology unlocking copper where grades are lower and orebodies more complex? ·       
  • How are advances in leaching, coarse particle flotation, ore sorting, in-situ recovery and digital optimisation already adding metal from stockpiles, waste and lower grade zones?
  • How are these technologies reducing energy, water and carbon footprints?

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12:30

12:30 - 14:00

90 Minutes

Light Lunch

14:00

14:00 - 15:30

90 Minutes

Stream 1: Workshop – Chile Energy

  • How do high energy costs in Chile undermine the competitiveness of the mining sector, and how could cost-effective energy strategies restore margins and project viability?
  • Why do imported fossil fuels, transmission bottlenecks, and remote mine locations drive up delivered electricity prices, and how can grid reinforcement and smarter planning reduce these structural costs?
  • In what ways do elevated power prices endanger low-grade and marginal deposits, and how can efficiency measures and better contracting frameworks keep these projects economically feasible?
  • How can long-term renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) in solar- and wind-rich northern Chile help miners secure lower, more stable and lower-carbon energy?
  • What transmission, storage and grid-flexibility solutions are needed so that variable renewables can reliably meet mining’s 24/7 demand and turn clean energy into a lasting competitive advantage?

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15:30

15:30 - 17:00

90 Minutes

Stream 1: Workshop - Latin American Mining – In association with Colorado School of Mines

  • Minerals and the Americas
  • Geopolitics
  • China-United States
  • Regulation/Standards
  • Illicit Supply Chain

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18:00

18:00 - 00:00

1080 Minutes

Cocktail Reception

09:00

09:00 - 09:20

20 Minutes

Keynote Presentation – Copper and the Contest for Energy, Industry and Data

  • Copper: At the heart of overlapping energy, industrial and digital transitions
  • Implications for supply, demand and price over the next decade
  • Where will the next wave of supply come from? How quickly can it be delivered? How can companies and countries position themselves in a tighter market

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09:20

09:20 - 09:40

20 Minutes

Keynote presentation Chilean Minister of Mines

09:40

09:40 - 10:25

45 Minutes

Keynote Panel 1: Chile focus — Chile as a copper leader for the next wave of demand

  • Chile remains the world’s largest copper producer, but its main ore bodies are maturing just as new waves of demand emerge.
  • How the country can hold or strengthen its position by:
  1. Reshaping portfolios through desalination and renewables
  2. Re-engineering long-life operations
  3. Using technology to work lower grades
  4. Positioning “green” Chilean copper for more demanding customers
  • What policy, regulatory, infrastructure and community support is needed to accelerate investment & Secure Chile’s future supply role

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10:25

10:25 - 11:10

45 Minutes

Keynote Panel 2 Copper leadership in a world of competing supply chains

  • How is copper becoming central to energy, industrial and digital strategies?
  • How is the global map of copper production, processing and use shifting under new tariffs, sanctions and industrial policies?
  • How are supply chains, investment and influence evolving across the copper value chain?
  • How are strategies on growth, partnerships, offtake and integration changing as demand is diversifying and trade patterns are fragmenting?
  • How are companies securing reliable access to future copper units?
  • Where are they deploying capital along the value chain?
  • How are leaders balancing commercial discipline with rising expectations to support both energy security and economic security?

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11:10

11:10 - 11:40

30 Minutes

Break

11:40

11:40 - 12:00

20 Minutes

Keynote presentation: DRC copper growth under scrutiny: how fast, how repeatable, how persistent?

  • How has the DRC been able to add copper units at a pace the rest of the world is struggling to match?
  • What is the role of a handful of very large projects backed by Chinese capital in driving this growth?
  • How were these tonnes brought onstream so quickly?
  • How are power and infrastructure workarounds enabling rapid development?
  • What governance and operational risks are emerging from this model?
  • Is the DRC model a template for accelerating global copper supply?
  • Or is it a unique combination of geology and risk appetite that cannot easily be replicated elsewhere?

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12:00

12:00 - 13:00

60 Minutes

Project & Technology Mastermind

13:00

13:00 - 14:30

90 Minutes

Lunch

14:30

14:30 - 16:00

90 Minutes

Grids, data and the changing geography of copper demand

  • How are different regions racing to reinforce and redesign their power networks for electric vehicles, renewables and building electrification?
  • What does this power network transformation mean for copper use in transmission and distribution?
  • How is demand for copper evolving beyond the energy transition, including from data centres, AI infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and new classes of machines and robots?
  • How is competition to attract these activities shifting where and when copper is being consumed?
  • Are current forecasts underestimating the scale and strategic importance of future copper demand?

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16:00

16:00 - 18:00

120 Minutes

Afternoon Networking

09:00

09:00 - 09:20

20 Minutes

Keynote debate

09:20

09:20 - 11:00

100 Minutes

Tight concentrates, thin margins and the next phase of the copper processing industry

  • What does an era of ultra-low and at times even negative TC/RCs mean for the economics and structure of the copper smelting and refining industry?
  • How are tight concentrate supply, overbuilt smelting capacity and rising environmental and energy costs reshaping margins, investment decisions and the classic benchmark system?
  • How are miners, smelters, traders and producing countries responding, including moves toward index-linked contracts and vertical integration?
  • How is greater use of scrap and secondary feed changing the industry’s dynamics?
  • Will today’s pressures lead to consolidation, new business models, or a re-balancing of processing capacity across regions?

View More

11:00

11:00 - 11:30

30 Minutes

Break

11:30

11:30 - 12:30

60 Minutes

Short-term volatility, long-term constraints: reassessing copper’s risk profile

  • How should we weigh the risks from weak macroeconomic signals against those from looming structural copper shortages?
  • Which copper market risks really matter most, and over what time horizons?
  • How does near-term demand softness affect the outlook for copper?
  • In what ways is China’s evolving growth model reshaping copper demand and investment signals?
  • How does policy uncertainty influence copper markets in the short and medium term?
  • How will longer-term supply constraints from project delays impact copper availability and prices?
  • What role does grade decline play in tightening long-term copper supply?
  • How might geopolitics exacerbate or alleviate structural copper shortages over time?

View More

12:30

12:30 - 13:30

60 Minutes

Funding tomorrow’s copper: aligning capital and de-risking supply

  • How do copper’s long term tightening balances and growing supply risks contrast with the current pace of investment in new mines and midstream capacity?
  • Why are today’s copper price signals insufficient to unlock the required project pipeline?
  • Why are current policy signals failing to mobilize enough capital for new copper supply?
  • How do ESG expectations influence capital allocation decisions in the copper sector?
  • In what ways do permitting processes and jurisdictional risk constrain new copper projects?
  • How are higher funding costs reshaping investment decisions across the copper value chain?
  • How does uncertainty over future copper demand affect the timing and scale of new investments?
  • Which types of copper projects and which regions are successfully attracting funding today?
  • Which projects and regions are being left behind despite the emerging need for more copper?
  • How might financing structures be redesigned to better match copper’s evolving risk profile?
  • What role can public–private partnerships play in unlocking copper investment under higher risk conditions?
  • How can recycling investments be scaled and structured to complement primary copper supply and reduce overall supply risk?  

View More

13:30

13:30 - 14:30

60 Minutes

Lunch

09:00

09:00 - 11:00

120 Minutes

Stream 1: CRU Academic Challenge

CRU Academic Challenge is a competition organized by CRU that challenges teams of students to develop the conceptual design (initial phase) of a copper mining project through a technical, economic, environmental and social analysis, using information provided by CRU and complementary public sources.

09:00

09:00 - 17:00

480 Minutes

Stream 2: Lithium

11:00

11:00 - 12:30

90 Minutes

Stream 1: From high-grade exceptions to low-grade reality: the technologies that can move the supply dial

  • How is technology unlocking copper where grades are lower and orebodies more complex? ·       
  • How are advances in leaching, coarse particle flotation, ore sorting, in-situ recovery and digital optimisation already adding metal from stockpiles, waste and lower grade zones?
  • How are these technologies reducing energy, water and carbon footprints?

12:30

12:30 - 14:00

90 Minutes

Light Lunch

14:00

14:00 - 15:30

90 Minutes

Stream 1: Workshop – Chile Energy

  • How do high energy costs in Chile undermine the competitiveness of the mining sector, and how could cost-effective energy strategies restore margins and project viability?
  • Why do imported fossil fuels, transmission bottlenecks, and remote mine locations drive up delivered electricity prices, and how can grid reinforcement and smarter planning reduce these structural costs?
  • In what ways do elevated power prices endanger low-grade and marginal deposits, and how can efficiency measures and better contracting frameworks keep these projects economically feasible?
  • How can long-term renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) in solar- and wind-rich northern Chile help miners secure lower, more stable and lower-carbon energy?
  • What transmission, storage and grid-flexibility solutions are needed so that variable renewables can reliably meet mining’s 24/7 demand and turn clean energy into a lasting competitive advantage?

15:30

15:30 - 17:00

90 Minutes

Stream 1: Workshop - Latin American Mining – In association with Colorado School of Mines

  • Minerals and the Americas
  • Geopolitics
  • China-United States
  • Regulation/Standards
  • Illicit Supply Chain

18:00

18:00 - 00:00

1080 Minutes

Cocktail Reception

09:00

09:00 - 09:20

20 Minutes

Keynote Presentation – Copper and the Contest for Energy, Industry and Data

  • Copper: At the heart of overlapping energy, industrial and digital transitions
  • Implications for supply, demand and price over the next decade
  • Where will the next wave of supply come from? How quickly can it be delivered? How can companies and countries position themselves in a tighter market

09:20

09:20 - 09:40

20 Minutes

Keynote presentation Chilean Minister of Mines

09:40

09:40 - 10:25

45 Minutes

Keynote Panel 1: Chile focus — Chile as a copper leader for the next wave of demand

  • Chile remains the world’s largest copper producer, but its main ore bodies are maturing just as new waves of demand emerge.
  • How the country can hold or strengthen its position by:
  1. Reshaping portfolios through desalination and renewables
  2. Re-engineering long-life operations
  3. Using technology to work lower grades
  4. Positioning “green” Chilean copper for more demanding customers
  • What policy, regulatory, infrastructure and community support is needed to accelerate investment & Secure Chile’s future supply role

10:25

10:25 - 11:10

45 Minutes

Keynote Panel 2 Copper leadership in a world of competing supply chains

  • How is copper becoming central to energy, industrial and digital strategies?
  • How is the global map of copper production, processing and use shifting under new tariffs, sanctions and industrial policies?
  • How are supply chains, investment and influence evolving across the copper value chain?
  • How are strategies on growth, partnerships, offtake and integration changing as demand is diversifying and trade patterns are fragmenting?
  • How are companies securing reliable access to future copper units?
  • Where are they deploying capital along the value chain?
  • How are leaders balancing commercial discipline with rising expectations to support both energy security and economic security?

11:10

11:10 - 11:40

30 Minutes

Break

11:40

11:40 - 12:00

20 Minutes

Keynote presentation: DRC copper growth under scrutiny: how fast, how repeatable, how persistent?

  • How has the DRC been able to add copper units at a pace the rest of the world is struggling to match?
  • What is the role of a handful of very large projects backed by Chinese capital in driving this growth?
  • How were these tonnes brought onstream so quickly?
  • How are power and infrastructure workarounds enabling rapid development?
  • What governance and operational risks are emerging from this model?
  • Is the DRC model a template for accelerating global copper supply?
  • Or is it a unique combination of geology and risk appetite that cannot easily be replicated elsewhere?

12:00

12:00 - 13:00

60 Minutes

Project & Technology Mastermind

13:00

13:00 - 14:30

90 Minutes

Lunch

14:30

14:30 - 16:00

90 Minutes

Grids, data and the changing geography of copper demand

  • How are different regions racing to reinforce and redesign their power networks for electric vehicles, renewables and building electrification?
  • What does this power network transformation mean for copper use in transmission and distribution?
  • How is demand for copper evolving beyond the energy transition, including from data centres, AI infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and new classes of machines and robots?
  • How is competition to attract these activities shifting where and when copper is being consumed?
  • Are current forecasts underestimating the scale and strategic importance of future copper demand?

16:00

16:00 - 18:00

120 Minutes

Afternoon Networking

09:00

09:00 - 09:20

20 Minutes

Keynote debate

09:20

09:20 - 11:00

100 Minutes

Tight concentrates, thin margins and the next phase of the copper processing industry

  • What does an era of ultra-low and at times even negative TC/RCs mean for the economics and structure of the copper smelting and refining industry?
  • How are tight concentrate supply, overbuilt smelting capacity and rising environmental and energy costs reshaping margins, investment decisions and the classic benchmark system?
  • How are miners, smelters, traders and producing countries responding, including moves toward index-linked contracts and vertical integration?
  • How is greater use of scrap and secondary feed changing the industry’s dynamics?
  • Will today’s pressures lead to consolidation, new business models, or a re-balancing of processing capacity across regions?

11:00

11:00 - 11:30

30 Minutes

Break

11:30

11:30 - 12:30

60 Minutes

Short-term volatility, long-term constraints: reassessing copper’s risk profile

  • How should we weigh the risks from weak macroeconomic signals against those from looming structural copper shortages?
  • Which copper market risks really matter most, and over what time horizons?
  • How does near-term demand softness affect the outlook for copper?
  • In what ways is China’s evolving growth model reshaping copper demand and investment signals?
  • How does policy uncertainty influence copper markets in the short and medium term?
  • How will longer-term supply constraints from project delays impact copper availability and prices?
  • What role does grade decline play in tightening long-term copper supply?
  • How might geopolitics exacerbate or alleviate structural copper shortages over time?

12:30

12:30 - 13:30

60 Minutes

Funding tomorrow’s copper: aligning capital and de-risking supply

  • How do copper’s long term tightening balances and growing supply risks contrast with the current pace of investment in new mines and midstream capacity?
  • Why are today’s copper price signals insufficient to unlock the required project pipeline?
  • Why are current policy signals failing to mobilize enough capital for new copper supply?
  • How do ESG expectations influence capital allocation decisions in the copper sector?
  • In what ways do permitting processes and jurisdictional risk constrain new copper projects?
  • How are higher funding costs reshaping investment decisions across the copper value chain?
  • How does uncertainty over future copper demand affect the timing and scale of new investments?
  • Which types of copper projects and which regions are successfully attracting funding today?
  • Which projects and regions are being left behind despite the emerging need for more copper?
  • How might financing structures be redesigned to better match copper’s evolving risk profile?
  • What role can public–private partnerships play in unlocking copper investment under higher risk conditions?
  • How can recycling investments be scaled and structured to complement primary copper supply and reduce overall supply risk?  

13:30

13:30 - 14:30

60 Minutes

Lunch

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