Chilean startup backed by BHP Group has delivered its first copper cathodes from a demonstration plant at a mine site in northern Chile as the industry looks to squeeze out more metal from lower quality ore.
Ceibo extracted the metal from sulfide ores at a mine owned by Cia. Minera San Geronimo, or CMSG, using a proprietary leaching process, the two companies said in a statement.
Ceibo and firms such as Jetti Resources and Rio Tinto Group’s Nuton venture are looking to roll out catalysts for liberating copper from low-grade ore that miners previously saw as too expensive and difficult to process. 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.
Ceibo’s process extracts copper from sulphide ores using existing plants, with electrochemical reactions bolstering recovery rates in shorter cycles. The company is also working with Glencore Plc on a leaching process at the latter’s Lomas Bayas mine in Chile.
BHP Ventures and Energy Impact Partners participated in Ceibo’s 2023 financing round, joining Khosla Ventures as investors.