The Wall Street Journal article regarding Phelps Dodge's investment in Tenke Fungurume copper and cobalt mine in the Congo illustrates very well the significant risks major mining companies are assuming by investing in the developing world. The world-class ore bodies in stable operating environments in places like Canada, the United States, Australia and Chile are largely tapped out, so finding large projects that provide a mineral reserve stream over many years are increasingly difficult to find in those countries. Additionally, these stable countries are adopting increasingly more stringent environmental standards that increase the cost of new projects significantly. Global mining companies who once feigned at assuming the risks in developing countries like the Congo are now increasingly finding it necessary to invest in such places to maintain or grow their future production profile and meet global demand for mineral commodities.