Laos has 1 million tons of copper ore reserves at about 4%, or 40,000 tons of copper metal reserves, how much investment is needed to mine such a mine? Thank you!

Mine value = 40,000 tons * $6,000/ton * 75% = $180 million

Current copper price is about $7,400/ton, but the estimated value is based on the long-term average price.

The inputs to mining a mine include mine extraction, pits, roads, utilities, processing plant construction, environmental protection and waste-water dump construction, equipment investment, mineral taxes, labor costs, etc.

Especially when there is also the risk of potentially mining the mine only to find out that the ore grades and reserves are not even close to what was projected, as well as the local political and security risks.

You can expect a good gross profit margin of around 20-30% on a mine in Laos.