PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Copper cathode producer Tiger Resources has reported a significant surge in production after its solvent extraction electrowinning (SX-EW) plant, at its Kipoi project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, reached nameplate capacity.
First copper cathode was produced in May this year, and the SX-EW plant reached its nameplate production rate of 25 000 t/y by September.
During the three months to September, copper cathode production reached 5 620 t, compared with the 1 499 t produced in the previous quarter.
The miner was currently in the process of completing an updated study to increase the SX-EW capacity to some 50 000 t/y of copper cathode, and told shareholders on Tuesday that it would only pursue this option once long-term financing was in place.
However, it pointed out that the expansion to 500 000 t/y was one of the lowest capital intensity expansion opportunities in the current copper industry, and would essentially replicate the current installed SX-EW infrastructure at Kipoi, carrying an execution risk significantly lower than competing projects in the copper sector.
Some 3 801 t of copper-in-concentrate was also produced during the quarter from the heavy media separation plant.
With the successful ramp-up of the SX-EW plant, Tiger has taken the decision to close its heavy media separation plant, and as a result, full-year copper-in-concentrate production was expected to reach only 16 222 t.
Meanwhile, copper cathode sales for the quarter reached 5 225 t, up from the 212 t sold in the June quarter, to generate a gross revenue of A$35.6-million.