Copper has hit a record $6.04/lb, but the physical market is reaching a breaking point. On the opening day of PDAC 2026, Hudbay Minerals ignited the M&A cycle with a US$1.48 billion acquisition of Arizona Sonoran at a 30% premium – a move that confirms the “gun-shy” majors are officially losing their window to buy cheap metal.
In this exclusive Copper Panel, Jeremy Szafron sits down with Frank Giustra (Fiore Group) and Ian Harris (CEO, Copper Giant Resources) to discuss a global “Black Swan” event: a bridge collapse that has severed the DRC’s main copper export corridor, effectively cutting off the world’s second-largest producer.
With only four “billion-tonne” near-surface assets left undeveloped in the world, the guests break down why the current $6.00 price is just the baseline for a decade-long supply squeeze driven by the AI power crunch and the $1.4 trillion decay of the U.S. electrical grid.
The 14¢ vs. 1¢ Valuation Gap
The Hudbay deal valued Arizona Sonoran at roughly 15 cents per pound of copper in the ground. Meanwhile, Tier-1 assets like Copper Giant (TSXV: CGNT) are trading at just 1 cent per pound—a massive valuation gap that Frank Giustra calls a “no-brainer” for investors watching the majors scramble for replacement reserves.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Live at PDAC 2026
0:11 – Hudbay Deal Sparks M&A Cycle
1:03 – Majors Move by Committee: The Risk Aversion Trap
2:30 – Scarcity Triggers Dominoes: Only 4 Billion-Tonne Assets Left
4:57 – Copper Supply Shock: The DRC Bridge Collapse
6:56 – Stockpiles and the “COVID Toilet Paper” Tight Market
7:40 – AI and Electrification: The 8 Million Tonne Deficit
11:59 – Bull Market and the Junior Mining Rotation
14:07 – Tier One Asset Math: 1.1 Billion Tonnes at Mocoa
15:46 – Molybdenum: The “Strategic” Byproduct Edge
17:57 – Frank’s Macro Playbook: Calling the Copper Cycle
21:26 – Colombia: Jurisdiction, Community, and Rule of Law
24:52 – Copper Giant 2026 Milestones: The PEA & Expansion
26:02 – Wrap Up and Subscribe
Recorded March 02, 2026.
Special thanks to our sponsors, GoldMining Inc., U.S. Gold Mining Inc., UEC & URC for making this coverage possible.
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36 Comments
Check out Marimaca Copper
Graphene?
very exciting times…
Nice interview!! Thank you guys!!Chile has the major reserves of copper on earth!!Chile produces 31, 9% mine copper yearly globally!! CODELCO has 20% of base reserves all around the world!!In my y view copper outlook remains price-positive in the long term!!Maybe US$24,500/L 13:48 B Cash Grade A (Spot market )in Q2 2030??It's very important to increase mining exploration investments to look for new mines to develop them to have more fine copper on metal stocks like LME, Comex or Shanghai!! Without exploration we don't have nothing!!Chile has high-grade copper assets to be optioned to do exploration and geology on site here! Also Chile offers to foreign investors legal,tributary, economic and polític stability as well as a deep respect to the game rules too!!! Copper moves water,, clean -energy, information, infraestructure, and money too!! Copper is the big star in electromobility industry, the largest business of this century to mitigate climate change negative effects as well as to eliminate CO2 emissions globally!! Humanity needs copper to survive in the future!!Market fundamentals are clear::Of You Have a global copper demand rate rising strongly day to day against a so lower global copper supply rate you will have highest copper prices in the short term!!When we can see a global copper surplus??I don't know it! Copper will be the next bull market!!! Copper has an upward trend!!Copper GO UP!!
WRN stock for copper is complicated will take 2 to 3 years for yukon government to get any agreement.
Makes Cobre Panama seem much more likely to restart.
Too messy
Investing in Canada based Bonterra with a fully permitted mine and mill with over 3 million ounces of gold sitting at 20 Canadian cents. BTR once discovered will Soar 👍💯🚀🇨🇦💰
recession on the horizon= copper drops
Which are the 4 big 1 billion near surface copper mines they mention?
180 million.. why does yahoo finance say 103million?????
Did they just claim there are only 4 undeveloped copper deposits in the world with a + 1 billion tonne resource at surface. What? I can think of five in Canada off the top. OM, SURG, NCX, Yellow Head and Galore Creek. Calling anything with a billion tonne resource “tier 1” is also misguided. Same as saying “all porphyries pretty much have the same grade”.
As a geologist from Brazil, I have a saying. The further you are from the ore, the more money you make.
Eldorado has a zero cost gold mine in Skouires due to the copper – 63 million tons annually. Also recently purchased Foran for more long and short term exposure to copper. A dual metal mine for the future for sure.
Paid advertising ?
Hard to listen to. Just selling. Fast talkers.
Frank is obviously proven and worth listening to, but this was a sales pitch, not an interview.
AI and EV are scams, just like Covid.
Mamy najpotężniejszy nie widzialny globalny rząd BIS Szwajcari monopol waluty światowej pragną C-B-D-C AI CERN SLAVERY.
Pragną skonsolidować i skonwertować cały publiczny dług świat każdego kraju zniewolić świat elektronicznie za pomocą CBDC.
Każdy kryzys, haos, wojna światowa jest dla nich zasłoną dymna problem – reakcja – rozwiązanie.
United Nation R-o-c-k-e-f-f-e-l-e-r NY HEADQUATER globalny rząd zakrywają słońce.
Musimy ich zatrzymać i to od was zależy WSZYTSKICH, ignorancja nie jest błogosławieństwem tylko przekleństwem‼️🇵🇱🗿🔥
Thanks gentlemen
Great interview great CEO
!!! Frank? Well his track record speaks for itself in developing wealth.
Ok tedi mine Bougainville.
New Guinea has the biggest copper deposit in the world, but the locals are VERY anti mining tribesmen. 😢
brilliant interview, well done Kitco,
obviously the time to have bought copper stocks was back last summer.
Is anyone in copper giant here?
Excellent take on Colombia and the vital importance of local and regional community relations.
4:52 I'm curious, what are the other near surface copper projects remaining that Frank was referring to?
Dominic Barton is a crook!!
Waiting for the stainless steel hype bubble. We gotta be running out of that stuff too 😂
Copper is the new copper.
How much did u have to pay the drug loards
Frank is right! Ceo' s scared to lose jobs. Opportunity is there now! Buy the dip.
They seemingly print silver 😂
$KG.V Klondike Gold – Frank Giustra has owned for quite a while waiting for the new Klondike Gold Rush 2.0 in the Yukon…you're welcome 😉
I think that carbon fibre is going to start being used as a conductive material .
Let me guess … Shortage… Supply squeeze… Physical deficit… AI… Data centers… Technology… No new mines…. No major discoveries .
Sums it up, this old new gospel?
In 2008 we used to cut old pipes for scrap. It was expensive. I heard same stories back then. Price since collapsed.