Southern Copper produced a pound of copper last year at a net cash cost of US$0.58. Before by-product credits, the same pound cost US$2.17. That gap — almost four times — is the most important number in copper right now, and it barely registers in the headlines about record prices.
Copper is near all-time highs. COMEX set a record US$6.71 a pound on 13 May 2026, and the LME three-month sits around US$13,600 a tonne. At those prices every producer looks profitable. The cost curve says otherwise.
The low end of that curve isn't low because of mining brilliance. It's low because of by-product credits. Southern Copper's cost before credits was US$2.17. Take silver and moly down and that US$0.58 reprices fast.
A cost curve that flatters you at the top of the cycle can turn on you when the credits fade. The producers worth backing are the ones who are cheap on the rock, not just cheap on the by-product arithmetic.
Working that out means pulling C1, by-product credits and production basis from a dozen filings, each reported on its own convention. That's hours per name — and it's exactly the comparison that should take minutes.
If you're underwriting copper at US$13,600, underwrite the cost curve beneath it, not the spot price on top.
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