AI Runs on Copper — The Metal Behind Every Data Centre

TradingView Comparison tracking 12 months. This is for educational and informational purposes.

Market snapshot — 13 August 2026: The chart above shows copper up 17.06% year-to-date. Copper set a fresh record high last week, touching about $6.80/lb, before easing to around $6.57/lb on 13 August. It is up about 17% in 2026 and roughly 47% higher than it was a year ago, while gold has gained 29.94% in the same period.

Copper has become one of this year's most closely watched industrial markets. The reason is physical: AI data centres, the electricity grid, cooling systems and high-voltage connections all require significant amounts of copper. Reuters, citing S&P Global Market Intelligence, reported that a cryptocurrency data centre needs about 21 tonnes of copper per megawatt installed, while an AI-training data centre in China can use around 47 tonnes per megawatt.

The build-out is only one side of the story. The International Energy Agency, in its Energy and AI analysis, expects global data-centre electricity consumption to more than double from about 415 TWh in 2024 to around 945 TWh by 2030. At the same time, recent operational disruptions have delayed Indonesian shipments linked to Grasberg, one of the world's largest copper operations, while new mine supply remains slow to develop.

That does not make the next move certain. It does explain why copper is now on more investors' watchlists.

Copper Miners to Know 

Copper miners can move differently from the metal itself. Their share prices also reflect operating costs, mine disruptions, funding, debt, management execution, exchange rates and the prices of other metals produced alongside copper.

●     Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) is one of the world's largest listed copper producers, with mining assets spread across the United States, South America and Indonesia. Copper is firmly the core of the business; it accounts for roughly 80% of revenue, while gold and molybdenum round out the portfolio. Grasberg's phased recovery following the 2025 mud-rush incident remains an important company-specific factor to track, since it feeds both the copper and gold lines. The stock is up +68% over the past 12 months.

●     Southern Copper (SCCO) operates integrated mining, smelting and refining facilities in Peru and Mexico. Copper is its main metal, generating about 76% of revenue, with molybdenum, silver, and zinc making up the rest as by-products of the same orebodies. That mix makes SCCO one of the more concentrated copper plays on the list, and it is up +110% over the past 12 months.

●     Anglo American plc (AGL) has become the most copper-levered of the diversified majors after its restructuring. Copper now drives roughly 70% of underlying EBITDA, anchored by Quellaveco in Peru and its Chilean operations. What was once a big conglomerate is now, in earnings terms, essentially a copper company with iron ore attached.

●     BHP Group (JSE: BHG | NYSE: BHP) crossed a historic line in its half-year results: copper generated about 51% of group EBITDA, edging past iron ore, at roughly 49%, for the first time in the company's ~170-year history. Iron ore is still enormous in absolute terms, but copper is now the marginal driver of BHP's earnings.

●     Teck Resources (TECK) is the cleanest re-rating story here. After spinning off its steelmaking coal business in 2024, Teck is now a copper-first company. It is the miner's main metal of value, dominating revenue line by roughly +60% alongside zinc.

Direct copper follows the metal price. Copper miners add company-specific risk. The distinction matters when comparing instruments.

5 Metals, One USDT-Quoted Market, 24/7

Copper is not the only metal story worth following; there is also USDT-quoted gold, silver, platinum, palladium and copper, with access available throughout the week, including weekends, subject to published trading conditions, liquidity and maintenance windows.

●     Gold is commonly followed during periods of changing interest-rate expectations, central bank activity and geopolitical uncertainty.

●     Silver sits between precious metals and industry because it is used in electronics, solar technology and other applications.

●     Platinum is closely connected to automotive demand, industrial use and supply conditions in Southern Africa.

●     Palladium is heavily linked to autocatalyst demand, which can make price movements sharp when vehicle production or supply expectations change.

●     Copper links directly to infrastructure, electrification, energy grids and the data-centre build-out.

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** This article was prepared by BROKSTOCK analyst Maboko Seabi