Copper Nears Record on AI Power Demand as Junior Drills in Montana

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1. Ownership and Share Structure Information

• Copper is trading near its September record as electricity demand from AI data centers and grid expansion grows, while new mine supply takes years to develop.
• S&P Global projects copper demand will reach 42 million tonnes by 2040 and expects a shortfall of about 10 million tonnes by then, even though the International Copper Study Group sees near-term refined surpluses.
• Domestic Metals is drilling a program of up to 9,000 meters at Smart Creek in Montana, a project it holds in a joint venture with Rio Tinto.
• Rio's best historical hole at Smart Creek returned 109.73 meters of 0.75% copper, and the company's 2025 surface samples returned up to 23.1% copper.
• First assays are due later this month (November), and drilling  is continuing and will for now remain focused on the Smart Creek Target area.

Copper prices are hovering near record highs as electricity demand from AI data centers and power grid expansion runs into a mine supply base that takes decades to grow. That backdrop favors U.S. explorers such as Domestic Metals Corp. (DMCU:TSXV; DMCUF:OTCQB; 03E0:FSE), which is drilling for porphyry copper at its Smart Creek project in Montana. Rio Tinto Plc. (RIO:NYSE; RIO:LSE) holds a 40% interest in the project.

Electricity is where the demand begins. Global power demand is expected to increase by an average of 3.6% a year from 2026 through 2030, according to the International Energy Agency's Electricity 2026 report. The IEA said the growth will come from industry, transportation, cooling, and the rapid expansion of data centers.

In the United States, demand is expected to rise nearly 2% a year through 2030, with data centers accounting for about half of the increase. The IEA also estimates that annual global grid investment will need to rise by about 50%, to roughly US$600 billion a year by 2030, to support this growth.

Every part of that buildout requires copper, from the data centers themselves to the transmission lines that power them. S&P Global expects global data center capacity to reach about 550 gigawatts by 2040, more than five times the 2022 level, according to a January 8 study. The study found that copper demand from AI and data centers, and from defense, will each roughly triple by 2040, together adding about 4 million tonnes a year. S&P Global Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin called copper "the great enabler of electrification."

On the London Metal Exchange (LME), three-month copper traded at US$14,352 per tonne on October 29, down 0.9% on the day, Business Recorder reported. That's about 3.5% below the record US$14,875 set in September, when optimism about copper demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers helped push prices higher. Investors have since grown more wary of that demand.

Inventories in Comex-linked warehouses have also risen 60% this year, to about 726,000 tonnes, as metal flowed into the United States ahead of possible tariffs.

"Sentiment has turned relatively more cautious rather than outright bearish," JP Morgan analyst Patrick Jones said.

Supply looks tighter outside the United States. The Yangshan copper premium, a measure of China's demand for imported copper, rose to US$205 a tonne, its highest level in more than a decade.

The near-term market balance is mixed. The International Copper Study Group expects a refined copper surplus of about 104,000 tonnes in 2026, widening to 368,000 tonnes in 2027 as new smelters and refineries ramp up in Indonesia, India, and the European Union, Reuters reported.

The long-term picture is different. S&P Global projects that copper demand will reach 42 million tonnes by 2040, about 50% above current levels. It expects global production to peak in 2030 at 33 million tonnes, leaving a shortfall of about 10 million tonnes by 2040. Without major new investment, mined supply could fall to 22 million tonnes by 2040, 1 million tonnes less than today.

New mines also take a long time to build. S&P puts the average time from discovery to production at 17 years, which is why the discoveries made now matter for supply in the 2040s.

Domestic Metals is a Vancouver-based explorer focused on the Smart Creek project, about 8,000 hectares in western Montana. The project lies roughly 20 kilometers north of Philipsburg and about 50 kilometers northwest of the Butte mining district, one of the most productive copper camps in U.S. history. The company says Smart Creek has a similar geological setting to Butte and is prospective for both porphyry copper and copper-gold-silver carbonate replacement deposits.

The company acquired Smart Creek in August 2024 under a joint venture with Rio Tinto, which keeps a 40% interest. Before that, Rio drilled 26 of 40 permitted sites at the project. Its best hole, SMCR0022, returned 109.73 meters of 0.75% copper, including 89 meters of 0.97% copper, according to the company's September 8 release.

Domestic Metals spent nearly two years building on Rio's work. That included mapping, surface sampling, 3D modeling, and a 2026 induced polarization (IP) survey, which showed that a chargeable feature at the Smart Creek target extends farther west than previously known. Surface samples from the 2025 field season returned up to 102 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, 23.1% copper, and 3,810 g/t silver. These were surface samples, not drill results.

Smart Creek does not yet have a mineral resource estimate. Rio's historical holes and the company's surface work have outlined targets, and the current drill program is the company's first test of them.

Domestic Metals began its program of up to 9,000 meters of diamond drilling on September 8. The program is planned at six to eight holes across two phases.

• Phase 1: three holes of 600 to 800 meters each at the Smart Creek target, drilled at an angle to test whether the mineralization dips.
• Phase 2: four holes at the Sunrise Mine target, which the company says has potential for porphyry copper and skarn mineralization.

The company expects the first assay results later this month. President and CEO Gordon Neal said news flow will start with observations from the core, followed by assays.

"What the geologists are looking for is continuity," Neal told the Investing News Network on October 6. In a video posted on October 2, he said of the early core, "I'm hoping for wider intercepts."

For investors, the near-term catalysts are the first Smart Creek assays, the move to the Sunrise Mine holes in Phase 2, and whether the drilling shows the continuity of mineralization needed to justify further work toward a resource.

In a September 8 research note, HoldCo Markets kept its CA$0.75 price target on Domestic Metals. The firm said the drill program builds on two years of geological, geophysical, and sampling work that defined porphyry copper and carbonate replacement or skarn targets.

HoldCo noted that Domestic Metals is the sixth company to drill Smart Creek, which gives it a large historical database to work from. Rio Tinto also remains a 40% joint venture partner whose technical knowledge Domestic Metals' team can draw on. According to the note, management aims to vector toward the center of the porphyry system and could find higher grades than Rio's 2022 drill results.

What is driving copper prices?

Electricity demand from AI data centers and grid expansion is rising at the same time that new mine supply is slow to come online. The IEA expects global power demand to grow an average of 3.6% a year through 2030, and S&P Global expects copper demand from AI and data centers, and from defense, to each roughly triple by 2040.

Is the copper market in a deficit?

Not in the near term. The International Copper Study Group expects refined surpluses of about 104,000 tonnes in 2026 and 368,000 tonnes in 2027. Over the longer term, S&P Global projects a shortfall of about 10 million tonnes by 2040.

What is Domestic Metals drilling?

The company is drilling up to 9,000 meters in six to eight holes. Phase 1 covers three holes at the Smart Creek target. Phase 2 covers four holes at the Sunrise Mine target, which the company says has potential for porphyry copper and skarn mineralization.

Does Smart Creek have a resource?

No. Smart Creek does not yet have a mineral resource estimate. Rio Tinto's historical drilling and the company's surface work have outlined targets, and the current program is Domestic Metals' first test of them.

When are assay results expected?

The company expects the first assay results later this month.

Ownership percentages, named holders, share count, market capitalization, and the 52-week range for Domestic Metals were compiled from the company's public filings and investor materials, exchange notices, insider-trade reports (SEDI / equivalent), and third-party data providers. Figures are as of 2026-10-30 unless a source was dated earlier. Pie slices are normalized to 100% of basic shares outstanding; retail is the residual after disclosed institutions, management, insiders, and strategic holders. Warrant terms are current outstanding series only. Restructures are historical consolidations, splits, and symbol or name changes. Insider buying and selling covers open-market trades from 2026-04-30 through 2026-10-30 and excludes option exercises. These are public-source estimates and can differ from a later official register.