Critical Minerals Copper

Operating margin for each miner's most recent fiscal year. The spread is wide for companies selling an identical commodity, and byproduct credits explain much of it: mines with rich gold, silver or molybdenum output offset those revenues against copper cost.

Revenue for the most recent fiscal year across the US dollar filers. Freeport and Southern Copper dominate the pure-play group, though both sit well below the diversified majors that also mine copper.

Six years of operating margin. The 2020 to 2022 surge and the subsequent normalization track the copper price, while the persistent gaps between companies reflect ore grade, jurisdiction and byproduct mix rather than the metal.

Capital expenditure for the most recent fiscal year. This is the number that matters most for future supply, and the reason copper cannot respond quickly to price: new mines take ten to twenty years from discovery to first production.