Hudbay Minerals and Mitsubishi Corporation have formally approved construction of the Copper World copper mine in Arizona, about 50 kilometres southeast of Tucson, after a definitive feasibility study supported the final investment decision. Hudbay owns 70 percent of the project and Mitsubishi 30 percent under a joint venture agreed in January 2026, and first production is targeted for the second half of 2029.
The study outlines annual copper production of 102,000 tonnes over the first 10 years, 11 percent above the 92,000 tonnes in Hudbay’s 2023 pre-feasibility study, at average cash costs of 1.65 dollars a pound over the same period. Hudbay said the mine would double its annual copper production levels and rank among the largest open pit copper mines in the United States. A technical report under National Instrument 43-101 containing the study results will be filed.
Mitsubishi’s commitment gives the financing shape. The Japanese trading house put its total investment at 1.023 billion dollars, comprising the 600 million dollars agreed for its stake and future development spending plus a further 423 million dollars of initial development funding approved with the decision. Mitsubishi expects about 30,000 tonnes a year of equity copper from its share, lifting its equity copper production from about 330,000 tonnes a year toward a target above 400,000 tonnes from fiscal 2030.
The decision lands in a market short of permitted United States supply. Copper World follows Ivanhoe Electric’s Santa Cruz project, covered on October 20, as the second large Arizona copper development to advance this week on buyer and partner financing, and both target first production around 2029. The feasibility figures are estimates at study stage, and construction cost and schedule risk now sit with execution rather than permitting.