JUNIOR copper miner Copper 360 is going to need more capital to achieve its 6-12 month goal of scaling its production up to 40,000 tons of ore a month and 5,000 tons of copper a year, it said.
In the year to February 28, it processed 223,158t of material to produce just over a thousand tons of copper, according to its year-end financial report. As a result of a steep increase in operating costs, the bottom line loss rose by 244% to R223.1m.
The company has fallen well short of the production and profit forecasts it made ahead of its hopeful listing on the JSE in April 2023 as it has faced a number of production issues, including load shedding, a critical mill failure and inadequate crushing capacity. In May, it brought industry veteran Graham Briggs in as CEO to stabilise the business.
In the cathode side of the business, the SX-EW plant was put on care and maintenance in September 2024 and it needs further capital spent in order to upgrade it to achieve sustained profitability, the company said. That will only happen after the production of copper concentrate is at a sustainable level.
For most of the year, the Modular Flotation Plant was processing transitional ore from Jubilee and broken rock from Rietberg Mine, after Rietberg opened in August 2024. The grade of this material was lower than expected and inconsistent. The first fresh ore development blast occurred at Rietberg in January this year and the sulphide ore from underground will deliver higher and more consistent in-situ grades. However, more capital needs to be spent on site infrastructure and expanding the underground fleet.
Subsequent to year-end, royalty loan holders converted the R264.5m they are owed to a five-year bond, which has provided some short-term cash flow relief.
