"Our copper journey has begun in earnest with the conclusion of the Eva Copper acquisition in the tier 1 mining jurisdiction of Australia. This near-term project complements our tier 1 Wafi-Golpu copper-gold project in Papua New Guinea." The race for copper mining assets globally is getting increasingly competitive, Steenkamp told Business Day, as companies scramble to add the metal to their portfolios in anticipation of supply shortages and subsequently higher prices. "We were very fortunate to get our hands on Eva. If you are going to look for copper assets now you will face a lot of competition," Steenkamp said. Harmony is confident that the demand for copper will start increasing within the next two to three years, especially as more countries move towards electric vehicles. Last year the EU reached a political agreement that will effectively ban the sale of non-electric vehicles from 2035. "Our shift into copper comes at a critical time for the global just energy transition.