By Leia Michele Toovey- Exclusive to Copper Investing News U.S. copper futures hit a one-month high above $2.40 per lb Wednesday morning, as a rally in equities restored confidence in the global economy. Equities rallied as data showed better-than-expected manufacturing and industrial production. Additional impetus to copper’s rally came by way of dollar weakness, and data that U.S. consumer prices climbed at a slightly faster-than-expected pace in June, boosting the metal’s appeal as an inflation hedge. Copper ignored an increase in London Metal Exchange warehouse stocks. LME inventories are up 4,200 tonnes at 261,100 tonnes. LME copper for three-month delivery last traded at $5,252 a tonne, up $207 from Tuesday’s close. India copper futures extended gains for a fourth day on Wednesday; the most-active August contract was 3.25 per cent higher after gaining 3.1 per cent in the previous three sessions. The global copper market recorded a surplus of 90,000 metric tonnes during the first five months of this year, compared with a deficit of 170,000 metric tons the same period a year ago, U.K.-based research group World Bureau of Metal Statistics said Wednesday. Consumption in the first five months stood at 7.47 million tons, down 3.2 per cent from last year. China’s consumption, however, jumped 42 per cent to 3 million metric tons, as the country built up its copper strategic reserves seizing upon last year’s drop in prices; China’s State Reserve Bureau spent the early part of this year buying. It now holds at least 235,000 tons of copper, nearly as much as the London Metal Exchange warehouses hold to back futures trading. Company News Rio Tinto’s mined copper output fell 1 per cent in the second quarter of 2009 from a year earlier due to continuing problems at its Escondida joint venture in Chile, the world’s largest copper mine. Rio Tinto said its share of mined copper from Escondida fell by 41 per cent from the same period last year to 76,200 tonnes, while in the first six months, contained copper output dropped 37 per cent to 154,300. The company said lower concentrator head grades and lower throughput following SAG mill motor issues and lower ore production from the Escondida Norte pit lay behind the fall. The drop in output at Escondida was offset by rising output at the Kennecott Utah Copper complex. Escondida is a joint venture with mining conglomerate BHP Billiton. Nevada Copper Corp (TSX: NCU) has completed an updated resource estimate for its Pumpkin Hollow property in Nevada. The National Instrument 43-101 compliant estimate shows a significant increase in copper, gold and iron resources while showing substantial increases in the measured and indicated categories. The new resource estimate increased to 9.3 billion pounds of copper at a 0.20 per cent cutoff, an increase of 18 per cent from the November 2007 resource of 7.9 billion pounds. Measured and indicate copper resource rose 42 per cent to 5.6 billion pounds at a 0.20 percent cutoff, and the measured and indicated gold resource increased a staggering 55 per cent to 983,000 ounces. The measured, indicated and inferred iron resource in the Western deposits rose 47 per cent to 362 million tons averaging 35.8 per cent iron at a 20 per cent cutoff. The measured and indicated copper resource for the open pit Western deposits saw a 74 per cent increase to 198 million tonnes averaging 0.66 per cent copper at 0.30 per cent cutoff. The Eastern underground deposits now contain a measured and indicated resource of 31 million tonnes averaging 1.83 per cent copper and an inferred resource of 9 million tonnes of 1.67 per cent copper at 1 per cent cutoff. Total gold resource stands at 1.45 million ounces and 55 million ounces of silver at a 0.20 per cent cutoff. Nevada Copper is the sole owner of the Pumpkin Hollow IOCG (iron oxide copper gold) property. The increase in the total resources is largely due to the very successful expansion of open mineralization and focused resource classification drilling during 2008. Work on an update of the preliminary economic assessment study will commence immediately, followed by a feasibility study in 2009.

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