First test production at South African copper producing company Cuperex’s Spectakel facility, near Springbok, in the Northern Cape, is expected to take place this month, with the ramp-up to full capacity expected to take place in April, May and June, CEO Dave Lake tells Mining Weekly.

The Spectakel plant will have the capacity to produce in excess of 200 t of copper a month and will use Cuperex’s low- power technology, which is able to process stranded copper ore or concentrates into 98%-pure copper crystals without the need for smelting or electrowinning.

Cuperex managed to secure funding for this project in December last year through Grindrod Bank, which advanced the funds to build this first plant, he says.

“Once the funding was in place, we could focus all our attention on building the Spectakel facility and we have made significant progress,” Lake adds.

To date, the crushing section has been constructed and is ope- rational, the first two heap-leach pads have been constructed and the first of these laid with ore, the pregnant leach solution (PLS) pond has been constructed and the acid bunding facility is under construction and should be completed by the end of the month.

The copper manufacturing plant is mostly complete, Lake says. “The bunkers are under construction and the building framework is mostly in place,” he notes.

Getting the plant operational is key to Cuperex’s business strategy as it will validate the technology, which will be impor- tant to both potential investors in the company and potential partners wishing to work with Cuperex and its technology, Lake says.

This plant will eliminate any perceived technology risk for an investor or potential partner as the plant can be visited and the technology can be proven in operation on a commercial scale, which removes any remaining technology risk that previous investors might have perceived.

Further, having an operational plant will create a profitable business for Cuperex.

The Spectakel facility will transform Cuperex from being a developmental company with a constant negative cash flow into a business that is profitable and cash flow positive on a month- to-month basis, he explains.

Meanwhile, Lake says that Cuperex, during the latter part of last year, received numerous unsolicited approaches from people worldwide who wanted to work with the company and its patented technology.

“This tells us that there is great commercial opportunity for Cuperex. However, the reality is that until we have commercially validated our technology on our own copper ores, there is not much value in in-depth engagement with any of these parties, as they would inevitably require this commercial validation of the technology if they are to meet their own investment criteria,” he says.

“Our process of turning concentrate into pure copper is completely new in the industry,” Lake told Mining Weekly in October last year.

The traditional method of converting concentrate into copper requires significantly more capital expenditure, more electricity and equipment and, therefore, has to be matched by large resources to recoup the capital cost.

The Cuperex technology, as opposed to using traditional copper industry processes that are characterised by large volumes and high capital expenditure, distinguishes itself at the other end of the scale and can turn as little as 100 t of copper a month to positive account, irrespective of the location.

The simple hydrometallurgical process generates only gypsum as a waste product and is envi- ronment friendly.

It uses scrap metal as a reagent, but without any of the complications commonly associated with cementation, and the technology is applicable to sulphide ore and oxide ore. The copper produced is low in oxygen, which improves its malleability.