America needs a stronger
copper supply chain.
The United States consumes about 2,200 kt of refined copper a year and refines 850 kt of it at home. Falcon is building the capacity that closes the difference.
Four forces are reshaping
American copper supply.
The Processing Chokepoint
Annual benchmark tolling charges, what a smelter is paid to process concentrate, settled at zero for 2026, the lowest ever agreed. Spot charges are a separate market and have been negative since 2024, so smelters buying spot pay for the concentrate they process. Two primary smelters still operate in the United States, with a third in care and maintenance, and the country buys imported refined copper to cover the gap.
The Demand Surge
AI infrastructure, grid electrification and defense systems all run on copper, and all three are being built on decade-long capital plans. Demand rises roughly 50% to 42 Mt by 2040 against total production peaking near 33 Mt in 2030, a deficit of about 10 Mt.
The Supply Cliff
Second longest of any country, counting projects still in development. Ore grades are declining and new discoveries have slowed sharply. A mine that begins development today will not produce copper before 2040.
The Policy Reset
Copper is designated a critical mineral by DOE and USGS. Section 232 sets 50% on semi-finished copper and a 10% rate for articles made from copper smelted and cast at home, the first federal measure that prices domestic smelting. The same July 2025 proclamation directs the Secretary of Commerce to implement domestic-sales requirements on copper input materials, starting at 25% in 2027. The State Department’s Pax Silica Declaration, signed in December 2025, states that growth across the global AI supply chain is "driving historic opportunity and demand for energy, critical minerals, manufacturing, technological hardware, infrastructure, and new markets not yet invented."
Projects that answer
all four forces.
Eight exploration projects are active in Montana, Alaska, Nevada and Arizona. Mining, smelting and refining projects are under evaluation in the United States, including a smelter in Arizona and a refinery on the Gulf Coast. Several more are under evaluation in allied countries.
Exploration
Eight copper-dominant exploration projects across Montana, Alaska, Nevada and Arizona, including a joint venture with Freeport-McMoRan and an option to joint venture with Rio Tinto Kennecott.
View exploration projectsOperations
Falcon is evaluating mining, smelting and refining projects in the United States, including a smelter in Arizona and a refinery on the Gulf Coast. The smelter would be the first new-build primary copper smelter in the United States in four decades. Falcon is evaluating several more in allied countries, to add finished copper for the United States and its allies.
View operationsRebuilding America's copper processing capacity.Closing the processing gap.
Arizona Smelter
Gulf Coast Refinery
A district-scale portfolio
of U.S. copper assets.
Nine properties across four states, with two projects listed under FAST-41.
Nine properties across four U.S. states. Hover a pin to explore.
Project information is provided for general reference only and does not constitute a technical disclosure of mineral resources, reserves, exploration results, or project economics. See Disclosures.