Glencore Plc is moving forward with a new extraction technology at its copper mine in northern Chile as part of the industry’s efforts to squeeze out more metal from lower quality ore.
After two years of laboratory trials, Glencore’s Lomas Bayas mine agreed to begin on-site testing at scale of a leaching process developed by Ceibo, the Chilean startup backed by BHP Group, the two firms said Tuesday. They didn’t offer investment estimates.
Ceibo, Jetti Resources LLC and Rio Tinto Group’s Nuton venture are among firms looking to roll out catalysts for liberating copper from low-grade ore. With new deposits getting harder to find and develop, leaching offers a way to boost and extend output at existing mines at a time when the industry is scrambling to meet an expected surge in demand for the wiring metal as the world electrifies.
Ceibo’s process extracts copper from sulfide ores using existing leaching plants, with electrochemical reactions bolstering recovery rates in shorter cycles. Lomas Bayas, with some of the lowest grades in the business at just 0.25%, sees leaching as a way to extend its life by at least seven years, general manager Pablo Carvallo said.
The mine expects to be able to make a decision on the project’s feasibly in the third quarter next year, Carvallo said in an interview, adding that leaching may also be rolled out at other Glencore mines.
First results from the on-site testing at Lomas Bayas are expected in April or May, according to Cristobal Undurraga, co-founder and CEO of Ceibo. BHP Ventures and Energy Impact Partners participated in Ceibo’s 2023 financing round, joining Khosla Ventures as investors.
(By James Attwood)
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