By Leia Michele Toovey- Exclusive to Copper Investing News

^[1]Copper prices continued to be on an upswing on Monday, following last week's selling spree ^[2]. You may recall that last Wednesday, the red metal had plunged to a six-month low as investors' economic concern had initiated a rapid sell off of the metal. The low was short-lived; copper had regained some steam by the week-end as the low prompted many investors to buy on short positions.

Copper's continuing gain this week was prompted by the dollar losing ground. The dollar hit a six-month high versus the Euro early Monday, but later reversed direction to trade slightly lower than late Friday, at $1.4743.The dollar's slip came as a recovery in oil prices gave investors the opportunity to capitalize on the greenback's recent rally. The Euro fell to a six-month low of $1.4645 in early Asian trade before recovering to $1.4690.

On Monday, Shanghai November copper most active contract rose 3.1 per cent to 57,790 Yuan as declining imports lent support to future prices. The supply situation is likely to worsen as tight supplies of copper concentrate and scrap copper for the remainder of the year are anticipated. London Metal Exchange three-month copper jumped $80 to $7,440. Copper for September delivery HGU8 was up 0.40 per cent at $3.3265 per lb by 10:16 a.m. EST on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division. The morning range spanned from $3.2965 to $3.3860. Last week, the industrial metal tumbled as low as $3.2185 which marked its cheapest since early February.

On Monday, Indian copper futures continued their climb on the back of a weak rupee and continued bargain buying. At 5.41 p.m., the benchmark August copper on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India was up 1.06 per cent at 318.50 rupees per kg. The Indian rupee fell to its lowest against the U.S. dollar in more than 17 months, on Monday, weakened by a falling stock market and some strength in the U.S. currency.

First-half copper output at Chile's Escondida, majority-owned by global miner BHP Billiton (BHP.AX), fell 4.42 per cent due to lower ore grade and less mineral available for its oxide plant. BHP Billiton Chief Executive Officer Marius Kloppers was upbeat about China's economic conditions ^[3] going forward despite a slowing of growth in developed economies due to inflation and credit and liquidity issues. "The effects of current weaknesses in the developed economies on demand for our commodities should be minimal, driven by on-going strong demand from the emerging economies," BHP said in a statement. BHP is currently trying to take over Rio Tinto ^[4]; thereby increasing their already large stake in the mining industry.

China's largest copper mine, the Yulong Copper Mine; will begin a trial period of cathode production next month with a new 10,000 metric tons copper smelter built at the mine. Located in the Chunyido village, Jomda County, Chamdo, in the eastern area of traditional Tibet known as Kham, the copper mine has 6.5 million tonnes of proven copper reserves, which represents more than one-tenth of China's estimated total copper resources of 62.74 million tonnes. The mine is expected to produce 1,800 to 2,000 million tonnes of copper cathode this year.

The first phase of construction is expected to be completed by 2010, at which time the mine is expected to yield 30,000 metric tons annually. The Tibet Yulong Copper Company in the long term hopes to eventually expand production capacity to 100,000 tonnes per year.