Fear sells. But seeing a headline about a copper shortage should excite investors, not scare them. Particularly, investors who have a long-term outlook for basic materials stocks, including mining stocks. The current age of many copper mines makes the case for several small-cap copper miners.
Here’s the situation. Copper mines, no matter how productive, have a shelf life. And many of the world’s largest copper mines are also the oldest. This doesn’t mean the mines won’t produce copper. But each of these mines will produce less copper per ton of rock moved.
