Copper stocks in Canada

Almost half of Canada's copper comes out of British Columbia, and a good share of the country's copper explorers work there as well.

In 2024 Canadian mines turned out 514,582 tonnes, 6.2% more than in 2023. B.C. accounted for 48.3% of it, well ahead of Quebec at 4.5% and Newfoundland and Labrador at 2.5%. On the world stage that's a modest showing: 12th place and roughly 2% of global mine output.

It used to be higher. Canada mined 697,322 tonnes in 2015, so production has slipped by about a quarter in under a decade even as grid builders and carmakers want more copper. Getting that tonnage back depends largely on today's explorers turning discoveries into working mines.

Copper's price is often read as a gauge of the world economy. That's because the metal goes into buildings, factories and clean technology, Natural Resources Canada says. Electrification should add a lot of demand. Power grids, wind and solar farms and electric cars all use large amounts. In the US, the USGS projected a record 2025 average of US$4.80 a pound on COMEX, up 14%. Analysts tied the jump mainly to uncertainty over US tariffs on copper imports.

Copper is on both Canada's and the US critical mineral lists. That matters for explorers. Copper projects qualify for Canada's 30% Critical Mineral Exploration Tax Credit on flow-through shares, for agreements signed on or before March 31, 2027. Canada exported $10.7 billion of copper and copper products in 2024, up 15%.

Big projects are moving. Ottawa says expanding the Red Chris copper-gold mine in northwest BC would add over a decade to its life. It would also lift Canada's yearly copper output by over 15%. In Saskatchewan, the McIlvenna Bay copper-zinc mine produced its first copper concentrate in June 2026. Full commercial production is expected in the third quarter.

A copper junior is a small company exploring for or developing a copper deposit, usually with no mine revenue yet. These details are worth checking in its announcements.

• A large low-grade porphyry and a small high-grade vein are valued on different terms, so check which one you're looking at.
• Copper-equivalent grades fold in gold, silver or molybdenum at assumed prices; the footnotes say which.
• Remote B.C. projects often live or die on roads, power and the distance to a port.