A Once-Great Copper Miner Faces a Reckoning Just as AI Power Demand Soars

The smelting area, where the copper is smelted and then placed in molds and cooled, at the Codelco El Teniente processing facility in Machali, Chile, on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. Copper extended its retreat from a nine-month high as sentiment in industrial metals markets soured ahead of new tariffs from US President Donald Trump.