The David Lin Report Gold To $10,000 While This Asset Doubles: CEO On Start Of Supercycle Frenzy
Sep 30, 2025
Ian Harris, CEO of Copper Giant and a seasoned mining executive, dives deep into the surging demand for copper driven by AI data centers. He predicts that copper prices could skyrocket to $10 per pound due to a looming supply shortage. Harris highlights the strategic significance of his Makoa project in Colombia, emphasizing its potential for rapid production and infrastructure advantages. He also discusses China’s dominance in smelting and the need for the U.S. to increase domestic copper capacity to meet rising consumption demands.
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AI Data Centers Will Drive Massive Copper Demand
- AI data centers will create outsized copper demand measured in hundreds of thousands of tons.
- Ian Harris estimates a single large data-center program could require about one million tons of copper, a material constraint on scaling AI.
U.S. Copper Supply Shortfall
- The U.S. currently consumes 3.6 million tons of copper and imports about half of that volume.
- Ian Harris says the U.S. needs to roughly double domestic capacity to reliably feed new smelters and industrial demand.
Mergers Signal Producers Expect Higher Prices
- Major producer mergers signal executives expect higher future copper prices and scarce new projects.
- Ian Harris argues consolidation is a low-risk way for big companies to gain scale amid limited greenfield supply.