Paul Harbidge
President & CEO | Faraday Copper | Geologist building the Copper Creek copper district in Arizona
"Building a US copper district at Faraday's Copper Creek; five major gold discoveries leading Randgold's exploration team; GT Gold's Saddle North discovery and its C$456 million takeout by Newmont."
Biography
Paul Harbidge is a geologist and the President and CEO of Faraday Copper (TSX: FDY), the company advancing the Copper Creek copper project in Arizona. He is now assembling what the company calls a multi-asset copper district: in 2026 Faraday signed an agreement to acquire BHP's historic San Manuel property next door, adding a mine that produced more than 4.5 million tonnes of copper between 1955 and 1999, about 27,000 acres of private land, and existing road, rail and power access. For resource investors, his work addresses a practical question: where the next generation of American copper will come from.
Harbidge, who holds an MSc in mineral exploration and mining geology, has spent more than 30 years in exploration and development. He led Randgold Resources' exploration team, which is credited with five major gold discoveries, including the plus-five-million-ounce Gounkoto deposit in Mali and the plus-four-million-ounce Massawa deposit in Senegal. He was Senior Vice President of Exploration at Goldcorp until Newmont acquired the company in April 2019. As President and CEO of GT Gold, he led the Saddle North porphyry copper-gold discovery in British Columbia's Golden Triangle — the kind of large, disseminated deposit that anchors major copper mines — and sold the company to Newmont for about C$456 million in 2021.
His method at Faraday is step-by-step de-risking. A May 2023 preliminary economic assessment (PEA — an early study of whether a project can be mined profitably) outlined a 32-year mine life, initial capital of US$798 million, and an after-tax NPV (net present value — what future cash flows are worth today) of US$713 million at a 7% discount rate, based on measured and indicated resources of 421.9 million tonnes grading 0.45% copper. Rather than chase headline scale, he has focused drilling on near-surface mineralization that adds confident tonnage, and on consolidation. The San Manuel agreement issues BHP shares equal to about 30% of Faraday on a fully diluted basis at closing, and BHP and a Lundin family trust both joined a C$100 million financing in March 2026.
Following Harbidge is a working education in how a junior developer earns major-miner backing. He explains the strategy in regular interviews, including on Bloor Street Capital's investor channel, and serves as a director of Fireweed Metals and technical advisor to Japan Gold, Maple Gold Mines, Kalo Gold and Gemdale Gold. The limits are straightforward: the PEA is early-stage and leans partly on inferred resources (the lowest-confidence resource category), Copper Creek has no mineral reserves yet, and the San Manuel acquisition still needs shareholder and regulatory approvals, with closing expected by the end of the third quarter of 2026.
Videos (2)
Faraday Copper: Copper in Arizona | Paul Harbidge and Jimmy Connor
- Top takeaway Paul Harbidge argues the San Manuel acquisition lets Faraday consolidate a copper district with shared infrastructure — a single milling operation fed from two deposits about 15 kilometers apart
- He expects US M&A momentum to keep shifting from production to development assets and positions Faraday as a go-to US copper developer given the scarcity of large US projects held by juniors
- He reports strong US federal backing, citing cross-agency coordination from the White House, the Department of War, and the Department of Energy, with the Executive Permitting Council driving simultaneous federal and state permits
- He flags a potential NASDAQ or NYSE listing given Faraday is US-only and notes few pure US copper plays trade in New York
- He expects near-term catalysts including deal close in September 2026, drill results from Copper Creek and San Manuel, a combined resource estimate mid-2027, and a phase one project study by year-end 2027
Faraday's acquisition of BHP's San Manuel adds a 12-14 billion pound copper resource adjacent to Copper Creek, with Lundin Mining and BHP as strategic shareholders. The consolidated project targets a top-four US copper resource ranking by mid-2027, backed by roughly $130M in liquidity the company says carries it into 2028. Three rigs are infill drilling the Copper Creek open-pit breccia pipes, with an updated resource expected once San Manuel data is integrated. Copper Creek combines surface breccia pipes with deeper porphyry-style mineralization, with over 300 breccias mapped and only 15% drill-tested so far. Private land, rail, power, and federal critical-minerals support shorten the path to permits on what management calls one of the largest undeveloped US copper projects.
FREE Master Class on Investing in Copper and Copper Stocks | Jimmy Connor
- Top takeaway Paul Harbidge argues that consolidating the Copper Creek and SAM Manuel districts under one infrastructure platform avoids duplication of capex, a common pitfall in the mining industry.
- He describes the post-acquisition shareholder base as blue-chip, with both Lundin and BHP now on the register as strong sources of capital.
- Paul notes that Copper Creek's 300+ mapped breccias with only 15% drilled to date represent substantial near-surface exploration upside.
- He says the US government's Executive Permitting Council is bringing simultaneous federal and state permitting, accelerating project advancement.
- Paul mentions Faraday's average daily trading has grown from 200,000 shares to $2 million, with one recent day reaching $17 million.
UBS projects a 520,000-ton copper deficit by 2027 and a $15,000/ton price, framing the supply-demand squeeze that drove this conference. Chile produces roughly a quarter of global copper but output peaked in 2018, as falling ore grades and longer development timelines pressure new supply. AI data centers, EVs (150 lbs vs 50 lbs in gas cars), and renewable build-out are reshaping demand — together already making up 32% of copper use. Major supply disruptions at Cobre Panama, Grasberg, and Kamoa Kakula hit at the same time as demand acceleration, exposing the fragility of the supply base. Eight copper-focused company conversations cover developers (ATEX, Faraday, Highland, Lumina), a tailings processor (Amerigo), a royalty platform (Evolve), and Sprott's physical and ETF vehicles.
Key Quotes
"This is a transformational acquisition for Faraday. Combining San Manuel with our Copper Creek project, with the support of the Lundin Group and BHP as strategic shareholders, positions us well to become one of the largest undeveloped copper districts in the U.S. with a path to development and near-term copper production."
— Faraday Copper news release announcing the definitive agreement to acquire BHP's San Manuel property, July 2, 2026
"The PEA provides an excellent basis for the future development of Copper Creek and is the beginning of the Faraday story."
— Faraday Copper news release on the Copper Creek preliminary economic assessment, May 3, 2023
Key Works
First economic study for Copper Creek: 32-year mine life, US$798 million initial capital and an after-tax NPV of US$713 million at a 7% discount rate.
Terms for combining the historic San Manuel mine with Copper Creek; BHP to hold about 30% of Faraday on a fully diluted basis at closing.
Specializations
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