Global benchmark copper prices are expected to remain above the $14,000-per-tonne mark, while Hindustan Copper’s cost discipline will ensure the financial viability of its expansion plans, Chairman and Managing Director Anupam Misra told The Hindu in an exclusive interaction.

Mr. Misra said the current surge in copper prices was largely driven by a widening demand-supply gap. Global copper demand is currently estimated at about 28 million tonnes, against supply of around 23 million tonnes.

“That kind of a gap exists [between supply and demand]. Therefore, benchmark prices [at the London Metal Exchange] are going to be above $14,000 per tonne,” he said.

At the time of writing, benchmark copper prices were trading 0.05% higher than the previous close at $14,508.85 a tonne.

Cost discipline

Mr. Misra said Hindustan Copper’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin currently stood at more than 50%, implying that its costs were below 50% of revenue.

“That means my costs are about 45% to [less than] 50%. So, even if benchmark prices go down, I will continue to be profitable. Therefore, I am not bothered whether [benchmark] prices fall or not,” he said.

His comments assume significance as the company has outlined a capital expenditure programme of more than ₹7,000 crore over the next five to six years and expand its mining capacity to 12.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).

“There are some places where we are doing modernisation, places where we are adding capacity, and [in some places] we may be replacing old equipment. All these activities are happening simultaneously,” Mr. Misra said.

He expects unit costs to decline further as production scales up.

The Kolkata-headquartered miner has also set intermediate milestones towards its 2030 targets to keep the expansion programme on track.

“This is to ensure there are no slippages, so that we do not get any surprise by 2030,” he said.

The expansion will primarily rely on brownfield development at its Khetri, Kolihan and flagship Malanjkhand mines, alongside further exploration.

Public sector leads exploration

Mr. Misra said exploration to strengthen India’s resilience amid evolving global copper dynamics was being driven largely by public-sector entities, with limited private-sector participation.

Mining projects typically have long gestation periods of 15 to 18 years, he said, making exploration less attractive to private players, who tend to prefer developed or producing mines.

Chile project may take time

Hindustan Copper is also pursuing the acquisition of four copper blocks in Chile, the world’s largest copper-producing country. At present, because of the regulatory requirments on both sides, it may take some time, “but yes, we are working on it,” Mr. Misra said, adding the next step entails forming a joint venture in India and in Chile.

“There may be other partners who would be willing to participate. Thus, the objective of having a joint venture in India is to diversify the risk,” he added.

The Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) plans to double its domestic uranium production by 2036, backed by four greenfield mining and processing projects and a novel initiative to recover uranium from copper mine residue.

As part of its push towards a circular economy, UCIL is expected to begin extracting uranium from copper mine residue from 2029-30. An understanding has already been reached with Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) for the initiative, which is expected to lower mining costs and make uranium recovery more economical.

UCIL CMD Dr. Kancham Anand Rao disclosed the plans while responding to a question from The Hindu at a media workshop organised by the Press Information Bureau and the Department of Atomic Energy in Jaduguda on October 4 and 5, 2026, as part of UCIL’s diamond jubilee celebrations.

“This is a long process. We will take some time till we start this extraction,” Mr. Rao said.

The initiative will not involve any additional mining. HCL will continue mining for copper and extracting the commercially recoverable portion, while UCIL will use the residual material.

“We are not going to mine from Hindustan Copper plant tailings. Hindustan Copper Ltd mines for copper. But they take out only 5%. 95% is their reject. We will take that 95% and recover 10% of it. That will become equal to our ore grade uranium. It will come to us for processing. So there is no mining cost involved,” he said.

The remaining waste would be returned to HCL, making the process both economically attractive and aligned with the principles of a circular economy.

Four greenfield projects

UCIL’s production expansion plan comes as India seeks to increase domestic uranium availability to support its growing nuclear power programme. The country’s nuclear power capacity is currently around 9 GW, with UCIL supplying roughly a third of the uranium required from domestic sources.

India’s uranium resources are relatively limited and low-grade, making the country dependent on imports. In the longer term, the nuclear energy programme envisages a gradual shift towards thorium under the second and third stages of India’s three-stage nuclear programme.

“The long-term plan is to become majorly independent of uranium for power production because our domestic resources are limited and low-grade. The goal is to switch to our abundant thorium reserves. However, small amounts of uranium will still be needed for research and medical isotope production,” Mr. Rao said.

To strengthen domestic uranium production in the interim, UCIL is developing four greenfield projects.

The most prominent is the proposed mining and processing facility at Rohil in Rajasthan, which will have the capacity to mine and process 2,500 tonnes of uranium ore a day.

A second project at Gogi in Karnataka remains at an early stage, with UCIL awaiting precise area demarcation from the State government. The other two projects are planned in Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Private participation

Mr. Rao said the entry of private players into nuclear power generation would complement rather than compete with UCIL.

Private companies have been permitted to participate in setting up nuclear reactors, but uranium mining remains under government control through UCIL.

“It does not affect UCIL. Private players are permitted to set up reactors, but uranium mining remains exclusively under government control via UCIL. We do not compete,” he added.

A Public Sector Enterprise under the administrative control of the Department of Atomic Energy, UCIL was established in 1967 and is headquartered in Jaduguda, East Singhbhum district, Jharkhand.

It remains India’s only company statutorily authorised to extract and process uranium ore and specialises in underground and opencast mining as well as the chemical processing of low-grade uranium ores.

(The journalist visited Jaduguda on the invite of the Press Information Bureau and the Department of Atomic Energy)