Copper Price Update: LME Copper Price Falls on Stronger Dollar: Nov 2015

Copper investors may have been encouraged by further production cuts from large mining companies on Wednesday, but the London Metal Exchange (LME) copper price was pressured by other factors on Thursday. 
As Reuters states, the LME copper price hit a one-month low on Thursday, pressured by a stronger US dollar. The news agency also cites “a surprise drop in German industrial orders” as hurting sentiment for the red metal in Europe.
LME copper for delivery in three months was down to $5,086.50 a tonne during morning trading hours, touching a low of $5,082 per tonne. COMEX copper did not fare much better. According to Investing.com, COMEX copper for December delivery was down 1.56 percent, at $2.286 per pound.

On Wednesday, the LME copper price was on the rise after Glencore (LSE:GLEN) announced updated plans for further cuts to its copper production. The copper price gained 0.4 percent in mid-morning trade that day to hit $5,183 per tonne, as per The Wall Street Journal.
Glencore previously announced plans to cut approximately 400,000 tonnes of copper production. Now the miner says that number is closer to 455,000 tonnes, which it expects to cut by the end of 2017. The update came after news of production cuts from Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), which stated on October 22 that, combined with previous announcements, it now anticipates an aggregate reduction of 250 million pounds of copper.
Still, the US dollar is growing stronger as renewed expectations for a rate hike from the US Federal Reserve put pressure on the copper price and prices for other metals. The Fed did not raise rates at its last meeting in October, but comments from Fed Chair Janet Yellen indicate that a rate hike in December could be possible. Yellen told Congress that a rate hike is “a live possibility.” The Fed’s next meeting will be held from December 15 to 16.
The spot copper price is down approximately 22 percent year-to-date, trading at $2.28 per pound.

Junior company news

Angkor Gold (TSXV:ANK) has launched its 2015/2016 exploration program, which will include work at its Halo copper-moly project in Cambodia. The main follow up at Halo will focus on a 7.25-square-kilometer copper anomaly with a 0.9-square-kilometer moly anomaly.
Tintina Resources (TSXV:TAU) announced an update regarding development plans for its Johnny Lee copper deposit and Black Butte copper project in Montana. Plans include the design of a tailings management facility for the project. “We are excited to display our commitment to building one of the most environmentally sound copper developments worldwide,” said Tintina President and CEO Bruce Hopper.
Kaizen Discovery (TSXV:KZD) put out additional drill results from its Aspen Grove project in British Columbia, reporting significant copper-gold mineralization in 12 of 13 holes drilled at its Ketchan prospect. Highlights include 68 meters grading 0.4 percent copper and 0.34 g/t gold in hole K15-11, and 26 meters grading 1.05 percent copper and 0.05 g/t gold in hole K15-10.

“We are very encouraged that drilling has yielded significant copper-gold mineralization over lengthy intervals throughout the Ketchan porphyry system, and in particular the presence of high copper and gold grades at shallow depths,” said Kaizen President and CEO Matthew Hornor.
Finally, Nevada Copper (TSX:NCU) released results of drilling at the East underground deposit at its Pumpkin Hollow project in Nevada. Several drill holes intersected significant intervals grading over 2.5 percent copper. For example, hole NC15U-02 hit several zones of mineralization, with the largest being 26.4 meters (24.8 meters true thickness) at 2.79 percent copper. Hole NC15U-06 returned an intercept of 176.8 meters (166.1 meters true thickness) at 1.01 percent copper.
“These are the first underground holes drilled at Pumpkin Hollow and we gained considerable knowledge regarding geotechnical and drilling conditions that will be useful in our next phase of drilling,” commented Nevada Copper Vice President of Project Development & Exploration Greg French.

Securities Disclosure: I, Teresa Matich, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article. 
Editorial Disclosure: Angkor Gold and Nevada Copper are clients of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid for content.