Copper prices drop on recovery concerns

Copper prices fell Wednesday after early gains as investors worried about supply when stalled talks over pay issues moved miners to block a mine entrance in Chile.

The declines came on the news that Standard & Poor’s had cut the outlook on Spain’s credit to “negative”, raising concerns that recovery from the recession could slow, sending investors looking for less risky places to put their cash.

March copper was down 4 cents to $3.12 per pound in New York trade, while three-month contracts fell $140 to $6,836 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange.

Other London-traded base metals were mixed, with nickel and aluminium seeing price gains while prices for zinc, lead, and tin all declined.

Meanwhile, among precious metals, February gold saw another session of declines as it dropped $22.50 to $1,120.90 per troy ounce in New York, while March silver fell 63 cents to $17.18 per troy ounce and January platinum was $31.20 lower to $1,409.20 per troy ounce.