Queensland copper producer CuDeco Limited has announced another milestone for its Rocklands copper mine, with the first shipment of sulphide copper concentrate on its way to China.
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Around 4635 wet metric tonnes (WMT) of sulphide copper concentrate from the mine near Cloncurry was shipped to China via the Port of Townsville on Saturday.
The shipment was sold to Oceanwide International Trading Co., Ltd under the existing offtake agreement.
It follows a 1000 WMT shipment of native copper in the first week of October, with another shipment of 300 WMT of native copper scheduled for late October.
CuDeco’s Managing Director, Dr Dianmin Chen, said the shipment marked another key achievement for the new plant as it ramps up towards nameplate capacity.
“This delivery is an important milestone for CuDeco as we work towards the commencement of continuous bulk shipments from Rocklands, and with it a substantial increase in concentrate exports, bringing substantial cash flows to the Company,” Dr Chen said.
“Achieving Rocklands’ potential is our key focus ahead of the mine’s official opening later this month, and with exploration activity already recommenced, we see the potential for an extension in the mine life and its capacity to deliver long-term benefits to the whole region.”
The news comes as CuDeco has been advised by China Minsheng Banking Corporation the requested extension of the repayment terms of the Company’s existing bank facilities is at the final stage of the approval process.
CuDeco has been in voluntary share trading halt since September until it gets financial approval from China but based on discussions with the bank, the company remains confident that the refinancing will be approved by the end of October.
Its flagship Rocklands operation has now produced over 2500 dry metric tonnes of copper metal in both native copper and sulphide copper concentrate, with CuDeco focused on copper-gold production in its early stage of operations.