Demand for copper is high, as it is a crucial mineral for renewable energy amid the transition away from fossil fuels. File picture: ANA
JUNIOR miner Copper 360 says metallurgical test results have confirmed a high copper recovery and concentrate grade at its Rietberg copper mine drill core in the Northern Cape.
Copper 360 is the only pure copper player on the JSE and was created through a merger of the Northern Cape copper rights and projects headed by mining entrepreneur Shirley Hayes’ SHIP mining company and the SX-EW, solvent extraction electrowinning plant set up by Jan Nelson to recover copper from dump material on the site of the former O’kiep Copper Mine at Nababeep.
The group was listed on the bourse only about two months ago and shares surged by up to R20.
When it listed it traded at R5 per share and this week the shares traded at R4.15 and had increased by 12.86% in the past month.
The listing came to the market at a time when copper prices have risen by around 10% since the start of this year.
Demand for copper is high, as it is a crucial mineral for renewable energy amid the transition away from fossil fuels.
The company’s focus is to produce premium copper that will yield a high cash margin.
The group was listed on the bourse only about two months ago and shares surged by up to R20. https://t.co/d7sNTjRJQo
— Business Report (@busrep) July 5, 2023
Copper 360’s operations are based in the Northern Cape and its mining rights cover 19,000 hectares to the north of Springbok; it holds 12 copper mines, some with developed infrastructure, and 60 copper prospects with advanced geological datasets.
It currently produces some 1,200 tons of copper cathode a year and aims to increase production to 7,700 tons per year.
The life-of-mine across its various operations is estimated at more than 100 years.
In a statement this week, the emerging miner, which is headed by Jan Nelson, said the latest concentrate grade at Rietberg was greater than 48% after one cleaning step, and the norm is 25%.
"The test results have exceeded the company’s expectations with the net result being that more copper with less energy and less concentrate mass per higher copper concentration will be recovered, which will directly impact the bottom line of the new processing plant being built in a very positive way," it said.
The miner has built a hydro-metallurgical plant that extracts the metal from oxide resources in Nababeep and its surroundings near Springbok.
The group said it had contracted SGS Metallurgy and Mineralogy Division, South Africa, to conduct test work on a representative sample of the Rietberg orebody.
"The sample was prepared from four core boreholes twinned parallel to historical drilling to validate the historical database.“
According to the miner, preliminary batch test results released by SGS showed recoveries of >90% at grinding sizes 80% passing 75 microns, and 80% passing 45 microns, using SIBX as collector and DOW200 as frother.
"Comparative test work with the process water from the site, using PAX as collector and MIBC as a frother, showed a slight improvement in the recovery rate. Variability test work is currently under way at SGS," it said.
– BUSINESS REPORT