This is a copper pre-production sweet spot story gone awry. The company has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory—despite all-time-high copper prices—by running into repeated unexpected difficulties at its just-build Gunnison copper mine in Arizona. Some of those were due to COVID-19 shutdowns, so I gave the company a break, holding on longer than I should have. But other problems keep cropping up that have nothing to do with any pandemics; things are simply not going as expected. Management has solutions for these problems—but these slow production and increase operating costs. It may be that this all works out in the end, but with the latest unwelcome surprise (CO2 bubbles interfering with copper recoveries), it’s 3 strikes and they’re out. 

This is the biggest loss I’ve taken since becoming The Independent Speculator, due largely to placing too much trust in management. Definitely my mistake as far as that goes. But I’m not going to hold on to shares in a company that keeps running into setbacks, just because I hate to take a loss. It’s better to get out of more potential harm’s way until the company proves the mine’s worth. I’m a gown-up, so I’m taking my lumps and moving on.