The International Copper Study Group (ICSG) is an intergovernmental organisation of copper producing and consuming States that functions as the international commodity board for copper. Its main purpose is to increase copper market transparency and promote international discussions and cooperation on issues related to copper. ICSG member States represent approximately 85 percent of world copper mine production, refined production and usage.
To promote market transparency by encouraging the exchange of information on production, usage, stocks, trade, and prices of copper, by forecasting production and usage, and by assessing the present and future capacities of copper mines, plants, smelters and refineries.
To enhance international cooperation on matters related to copper, such as health and the environment, research, technology transfer, regulations and trade.
The provision of a global forum where industry and governments can meet and discuss common problems/objectives. The ICSG is the only inter-governmental forum solely dedicated to copper.
The ICSG maintains one the most exhaustive and complete statistical databases on copper and publishes monthly Bulletins containing highly detailed statistical data on copper mine, smelter and refinery production, copper usage, stocks, prices and trade. The Group also publishes comprehensive information on operating and planned mines, smelters and refineries around the world as well as an annual Directory regarding the current status of copper semi-fabricator plants.
Meetings of the Group's member States' delegates and industry representatives are held on a twice yearly basis, usually in April and October.
The ICSG World Copper Factbook provides a concise and up-to-date overview of the global copper market. This is available free of charge on the ICSG website.
Topics covered in other ICSG reports and studies include:
The Mineral Composition and Regulation of Copper Concentrates, Smelters and Refineries
The Chinese Copper Smelter and Refining Industry
North American Semi-Manufactured Copper Products Capacity: Output and Perspectives
European Semi Manufactured Copper Products Capacity
Solid Wastes in Base Metal Mining, Smelting and Refining: A Comprehensive Study for the Copper, Lead and Zinc and Nickel Industries
Smelting and Hydrometallurgy Treatment for Copper Sulphide Ores and Concentrates
Manufacture and Use of Semi-Fabricated copper in Latin America/Canada
Industrial Use of Refined Copper and Scrap in Fabrication in China
Fabrication and Copper Use in Indian Subcontinent, ASEAN and Oceania
Study of By-Products of Lead, Zinc, Copper and Nickel
Social Acceptance for Mineral and Metal Projects
Taxation, Royalties and Other Fiscal Measures Applied to the Non-Ferrous Metals Industry
Risk Factors in Developing Minerals and Metal Projects
Membership
Membership of the ICSG is open to any State that is involved in the production, trade, or consumption of copper. As of 2024, the Group comprised 26 members, including the European Union:
Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron, copper, silver, tin, lead and zinc. Smelting uses heat and a chemical reducing agent to decompose the ore, driving off other elements as gases or slag and leaving the metal behind. The reducing agent is commonly a fossil-fuel source of carbon, such as carbon monoxide from incomplete combustion of coke—or, in earlier times, of charcoal. The oxygen in the ore binds to carbon at high temperatures, as the chemical potential energy of the bonds in carbon dioxide is lower than that of the bonds in the ore.
Falconbridge Nickel Mines Limited was a Canadian mining company with operations in 18 countries, involved in the exploration, mining, processing, and marketing of metal and mineral products, including nickel, copper, cobalt, and platinum. In 1982 the company was renamed Falconbridge Limited. It was listed on the TSX and NYSE (FAL), and had revenue of US$6.9 billion in 2005. In August 2006, it was absorbed by Swiss-based mining company Xstrata, which had formerly been a major shareholder. On 28 October 2007, Falconbridge Limited changed its name to the Xstrata Canada Corporation.
Boliden AB is a Swedish multinational metals, mining, and smelting company headquartered in Stockholm. The company produces zinc, copper, lead, nickel, silver, and gold, with operations in Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Ireland.
Mount Isa Mines Limited ("MIM") operates the Mount Isa copper, lead, zinc and silver mines near Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia as part of the Glencore group of companies. For a brief period in 1980, MIM was Australia's largest company. It has pioneered several significant mining industry innovations, including the Isa Process copper refining technology, the Isasmelt smelting technology, and the IsaMill fine grinding technology, and it also commercialized the Jameson Cell column flotation technology.
Stillwater Mining Company is a palladium and platinum mining company with headquarters located at Littleton, Colorado, United States. It is the only palladium and platinum producer in the USA. The only other North America based palladium/platinum producer is North American Palladium, located in Canada. In 2017 it was acquired by Sibanye Gold Limited, who then began trading as Sibanye-Stillwater
Lundin Mining Corporation is a Canadian company that owns and operates mines in Sweden, United States, Chile, Portugal and Brazil that produce base metals such as copper, zinc, and nickel. Headquartered in Toronto, the company was founded by Adolf Lundin and operated by Lukas Lundin. While it was incorporated to pursue an interest in a diamond mine in Brazil, the company re-structured and raised funds to develop the Storliden mine in Sweden. It purchased the Swedish Zinkgruvan Mine from Rio Tinto and then merged with Arcon International Resources for its Galmoy Mine in Ireland and with Eurozinc for its Neves-Corvo mine in Portugal. The company subsequently purchased and operated the Eagle mine, Candelaria mine, and Chapada mine.
The second-largest mineral industry in the world is the mineral industry of Africa, which implies large quantities of resources due to Africa being the second largest continent, with 30.37 million square kilometres of land.With a population of 1.4 billion living there, mineral exploration and production constitute significant parts of their economies for many African countries and remain keys to economic growth. Africa is richly endowed with mineral reserves and ranks first in quantity of world reserves for bauxite, cobalt, industrial diamond, phosphate rock, platinum-group metals (PGM), vermiculite, and zirconium.
Rand Refinery (Pty) Limited is the world's largest integrated single-site precious metals refining and smelting complex. It was established in 1920 to refine gold within South Africa, which had previously been refined in London.
The mineral industry of Peru has played an important role in the nation's history and been integral to the country's economic growth for several decades. The industry has also contributed to environmental degradation and environmental injustice; and is a source of environmental conflicts that shape public debate on good governance and development.
Toho Zinc Co., Ltd. is a Japanese manufacturer of zinc related products. Established in 1937, it smelts nonferrous metals such as lead and zinc and produces electronic components. There are seven branches in Japan and two branches in China, in Hong Kong and Shanghai. The company was responsible for cadmium poisoning on Tsushima Island in the late twentieth century.
Cobalt extraction refers to the techniques used to extract cobalt from its ores and other compound ores. Several methods exist for the separation of cobalt from copper and nickel. They depend on the concentration of cobalt and the exact composition of the ore used.
Hindustan Copper Ltd. is a central public sector undertaking under the ownership of the Ministry of Mines, Government of India. HCL is the only vertically integrated government-owned-copper producer in India engaged in a wide spectrum of activities ranging from mining, beneficiation, smelting, refining and continuous cast rod manufacturer.
Plants for the production of lead are generally referred to as lead smelters. Primary lead production begins with sintering. Concentrated lead ore is fed into a sintering machine with iron, silica, limestone fluxes, coke, soda ash, pyrite, zinc, caustics or pollution control particulates. Smelting uses suitable reducing substances that will combine with those oxidizing elements to free the metal. Reduction is the final, high-temperature step in smelting. It is here that the oxide becomes the elemental metal. A reducing environment pulls the final oxygen atoms from the raw metal.
The ISASMELT process is an energy-efficient smelting process that was jointly developed from the 1970s to the 1990s by Mount Isa Mines and the Government of Australia's CSIRO. It has relatively low capital and operating costs for a smelting process.
The Bottom-blown Oxygen Converter or BBOC is a smelting furnace developed by the staff at Britannia Refined Metals Limited (“BRM”), a British subsidiary of MIM Holdings Limited. The furnace is currently marketed by Glencore Technology. It is a sealed, flat-bottomed furnace mounted on a tilting frame that is used in the recovery of precious metals. A key feature is the use of a shrouded lance to inject oxygen through the bottom of the furnace, directly into the precious metals contained in the furnace, to oxidize base metals or other impurities as part of their removal as slag.
The IsaKidd Technology is a copper electrorefining and electrowinning technology that was developed independently by Copper Refineries Proprietary Limited (“CRL”), a Townsville, Queensland, subsidiary of MIM Holdings Limited, and at the Falconbridge Limited (“Falconbridge”) now-dismantled Kidd Creek refinery that was at Timmins, Ontario. It is based around the use of reusable cathode starter sheets for copper electrorefining and the automated stripping of the deposited “cathode copper” from them.
South32 Limited is a mining and metals company headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It was spun out of BHP Billiton on 18 May 2015. It is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange with secondary listings on the Johannesburg and London Stock Exchanges.
Korea Zinc Company, Ltd. is a non-ferrous metal smelter headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the leading refined zinc-producing companies alongside Nyrstar, Hindustan Zinc, and Boliden. Korea Zinc produces 18 types of valuable metals and chemical products by processing various raw materials from zinc and lead concentrates to low-grade ore and scrap metal.
The International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) is an intergovernmental organization originally established within the framework of the United Nations (UN) that aims to provide a forum for discussion of issues related to these metals and to ensure market transparency through the exchange of data and provision of research. It was the first to be established of three similar UN organizations now based in Lisbon, the others being the International Copper Study Group and the International Nickel Study Group.
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