GEOFF CANDY: Let's talk about the supply side because the key point is the changing nature of grades, particularly in the bigger projects. How do you see the grade profile changing over time?

MICKEY FULP: Well historically the grade profile for any commodity decreases as the easy surface deposits are found, then you have to go and dig deeper, and drill deeper and at this point, especially in the copper business, most outcropping copper ore bodies were discovered and mined a century ago. So increasingly we are looking for deeper and lower grade deposits. That’s the natural progression of any metal on the face of the planet. That said, we are not finding enough good copper deposits and that’s why I am this long-term secular bull on copper. We’ve got 25% of the world’s population still can’t turn on a light switch, they live in the dark and that’s going to change, and so the real demand for copper is for transmission of electricity, so I remain a long-term secular bull in copper for that reason. We have not been able to explore, develop and mine enough of good copper deposits. So I see demand continue to remain strong.

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/content/en/mineweb-radio-gold-weekly?oid=181174&sn=2010+Detail