Amazon Sources Copper from Environmentally Friendlier Arizona Mine

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Written by Eric Funderburk for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land Texas)

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Summary

Making a move toward acquiring the raw materials required by the many data centers it is building in the U.S., Amazon Web Services has agreed to source thousands of tons of copper from a recently restarted mine in Arizona using technology that requires significantly less water and produces less carbon emissions.

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Amazon Paying Attention

Let's face it: Amazon (Seattle, Washington) is an incredibly significant, important company and has entrenched itself into the global economy as a fundamental supplier of commerce and data. For many, existing without the company's role in daily life, ranging from buying cat food and batteries to using its cloud infrastructure that provides the data that creates careers, is unthinkable.

While power purchase agreements have been very much targeted by Amazon and other Big Tech companies in recent years, the company's data subsidiary Amazon Web Services (AWS) (Seattle) has gone a step further and secured one of the raw materials instrumental in the use of its many data centers: copper.

A Fraction of Its Needs

Let's make one thing clear: The copper that Amazon has contracted with Rio Tinto (London, England) is only a portion of what would be required by even one of many of its data centers. A piece published by the Copper Development Association (McLean, Virginia) last year states, "A conventional data center might use between 5,000 to 15,000 tons of copper. In contrast, hyperscale AI [artificial intelligence] data centers, such as those built to house NVIDIA's HGX systems, can use up to 50,000 tons of copper per facility."

And in fact, those hyperscale data centers to support AI are what AWS, as well as other tech leaders like Meta Platforms (Menlo Park, California) and Google (Mountain View, California), seem to be focusing on.

The Hyperscale Buildout

AI has changed the game in regard to the investment, materials and time needed to complete data center projects. Gone are the days of upstart single-building colocation providers; the biggest players today are constructing multi-building complexes that take years to complete and require thousands of tons of copper and at least a few hundred megawatts of power, and often above more than a gigawatt, to operate.

Industrial Info is tracking more than $128 billion worth of projects from Amazon Web Services in the U.S., ranging from facilities currently under construction to those still in the planning stage. Of these, more than $25 billion is classified as being in an active construction phase.

This requires substantial copper, and this week's announcement of AWS' contract with Rio Tinto represents a small, but fairly significant portion of AWS' needs.

The Agreement

AWS has announced it is securing up to 14,000 metric tons of copper from Gunnison Copper Corporation's (Phoenix, Arizona) Johnson Camp mine in Arizona, a recently restarted mine that almost certainly represents the lowest emissions for copper production from mining through processing and refining than any other facility in the U.S.

The Johnson Camp is the first commercial operation to employ Rio Tinto's proprietary Nuton copper-processing technology, which negates the need for downstream concentrators, smelters and refineries, producing 99.9% pure copper cathode at the mine site, eliminating time-consuming steps in obtaining a market-ready product while reportedly creating 60% less carbon emissions and using 80% less water than conventional processing methods.

The Restarted Mine

The Johnson Camp copper mine, located in Cochise County, Arizona, in addition to previous entries, made a new appearance in Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project Database in 2021, outlining the restart of production at the mine, which had ceased in 2010, as well as a heap leach pad addition. Turning dirt in earnest beginning in 2024, the restart was completed last year. Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can learn more by viewing the project report.

AWS has reportedly contracted a supply 14,000 metric tons of copper from the Johnson Camp mine over a four-year period and has secured another 16,000 metric tons from Rio Tinto from conventional run-of-mine leaching pads, meaning that although its environmentally friendlier copper acquisition is being more celebrated in the press, more than half of the copper that AWS recently secured from Rio Tinto will come from conventional methods of extraction and processing.

Operations at the Johnson Camp mine potentially could be expanded. Industrial Info is tracking more than $1.7 billion worth of additional projects that Gunnison is considering for the mine, including a 75-megawatt waste heat-fueled power generation plant, sourcing heat from a new sulfuric acid plant addition.

AWS Arizona Construction

Industrial Info is tracking two substantial AWS projects in Arizona, one which is planned for Tucson, located only around 70 miles from the mine site and absolutely a considered a "hyperscale" project as IIR's data show the possibility of up to 10 buildings being constructed in the complex, the first of which is planned to begin construction this year, ultimately leading to a 10th building completed in 2031. Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can learn more by viewing the related project reports.

What Does It Mean?

Depending on what one is seeking to learn about copper, Amazon contracts and data center construction, one important downstream sector to point out is the copper wire producers in the U.S. Industrial Info's Metals & Minerals Plant Database includes entries for more than 20 U.S. plants focused on a specific portion of Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code 3351 - "Rolling, Drawing & Extruding of Copper," which involve manufacturing the copper wiring becoming so critical to so many important projects and products.

Particular attention might be paid to owners of wire-manufacturing plants in Texas, one of the closest U.S. locales to the mine for significant copper wire manufacturing. In addition to other companies, Industrial Info's shows two plants belonging to Southwire Company (Carrolton, Georgia) in the state.

Southwire also is considering upgrades to a Mexico plant about seven hours' drive from the Arizona mine.

A Prescient Move?

Amazon Web Services' copper move comes just as talk is beginning to significantly ramp up in regard to price, supply and demand for the metal. Used in several important transition technologies from electric vehicles to wind turbines to the transmission infrastructure required from new power generation facilities, as well as data center and residential and commercial wiring, copper demand is rising rapidly. Earlier this month, copper prices rose above $13,000 per ton for the first time ever, and in a report published last week, S&P Global (New York, New York) forecasts a surge in copper demand from 28 metric million tons in 2025 to 42 million tons by 2040, leading to a forecasted shortfall of 10 million metric tons by 2040.

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About IIR News Intelligence
IIR News Intelligence is a trusted source of news for the industrial process and energy markets, powered by Industrial Info Resources' Global Market Intelligence (GMI).

About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 Trillion (USD).