TORONTO — Copper prices are unlikely to drop in the short or long term due to continuing global supply constraints, the top executive of Panoro Minerals Ltd. said.

Copper mining projects are still having difficulties coming online, Panoro president and chief executive officer Luquman Shaheen told AMM at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention in Toronto.

Earlier in the week, Wood Mackenzie Ltd. copper analyst Paul Benjamin said copper prices will probably dip between now and 2017 amid growing global supply (amm.com, March 5).

"I’ve heard every year for the last four years that in two years there will be an excess supply of copper, but it always seems to be two years away," Shaheen said. "You look at factors like energy and water challenges in northern Chile and lower grades affecting metallurgical recovery; there always seems to be a new supply-side constraint."

Even if copper prices were to fall moderately, "they’re still at historical highs," he added.

On the demand side, Shaheen sees "increasing confidence in the short, medium and long term," he said.

"There was some uncertainty with the transition of a new Chinese government and what that would mean for demand, but those uncertainties are fading a little bit now," he said.

The Vancouver, British Columbia-based company owns 13 copper and gold properties in southern Peru.