Cyprium Metals advances Nifty copper restart as commissioning results strengthen outlook

Cyprium Metals Ltd (ASX:CYM, OTCQB:CYPMF) last week outlined further progress towards restarting copper production at its Nifty Copper Complex in Western Australia, with encouraging heap leach commissioning results and key electrical infrastructure milestones supporting its target of producing first copper cathode in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Executive chairman Matt Fifield told Proactive that the company was transitioning its direct injection heap leaching operation into commissioning while completing pre-commissioning activities at the solvent extraction and electrowinning (SXEW) plant.

Fifield said early commissioning had confirmed the suitability of direct injection leaching for the existing Nifty heaps, following more than a year of technical assessment and field trials.

The operation had achieved targeted injection rates, with early copper recovery and acid consumption results meeting or exceeding modelled expectations.

“We saw an immediate response from putting acid into the heaps and generating copper at ratios that were, in fact, better than we had anticipated,” Fifield said.

According to the company’s latest operational update, copper concentrations in the off-flow solution had increased to approximately 1.3 grams per litre, while acid consumption averaged 4.25 grams per litre.

These results represented an important step towards building the solution grades required for processing through the SXEW plant, with the company targeting copper concentrations of at least 2.5 grams per litre.

Fifield also highlighted the progress made in establishing the production wellfield, which comprises 212 production and monitoring wells providing access to approximately 1.7 million tonnes of material.

Grade control sampling had reconciled within approximately 5% of the existing resource block model, providing further confidence in the underlying production assumptions.

Fifield said the established wellfield effectively covered the company’s next six to eight months of planned production under conservative recovery assumptions.

“It’s really more of a de-risking moment, with all of that production so quickly established,” he said.

The company also reported progress towards commissioning the SXEW plant, with high-voltage power connected to its electrical infrastructure.

Fifield explained that installing programmable logic controller systems and energising the plant were among the remaining tasks before wet commissioning.

Looking ahead, key potential catalysts include the expansion of leaching operations, further improvements in copper solution grades, commencement of SXEW wet commissioning and production of the first copper cathode.

Successful completion of those milestones would represent significant progress in Cyprium’s phased strategy to return the Nifty Copper Complex to production.

Fifield said the operational team remained focused on safely completing the remaining commissioning activities as the company advanced towards commercial production.

Key interview highlights

• Heap leach commissioning advancing: Cyprium Metals is commissioning its direct injection leach operation at Nifty while completing pre-commissioning of the SXEW plant.

• Injection targets achieved: Early commissioning has demonstrated the targeted solution flow rates needed to support the mine plan.

• Encouraging copper recovery: Acid injection has produced a rapid copper response, with copper-to-acid ratios performing better than anticipated.

• Resource confidence strengthened: Grade control drilling has reconciled within approximately 5% of the existing resource block model.

• Near-term operating inventory established: A wellfield comprising 212 production and monitoring wells provides access to approximately 1.7 million tonnes of heap material.

• Six to eight months of production supported: Fifield said the established wellfield covers the company’s planned near-term production period using conservative recovery assumptions.

• Potential recovery upside: Fifield indicated that recoveries could exceed conservative assumptions, although actual performance remains to be established during operations.

• Wet commissioning approaching: High-voltage power has been introduced to the plant infrastructure, with PLC controls and plant energisation among the remaining steps.

Proactive: Cyprium Metals has achieved key commissioning milestones at its Nifty Copper Complex, and here to discuss those milestones and just how busy the company has been is executive chairman Matt Fifield. Matt, good to see you. You’ve been really busy.

Matt Fifield: Yep. We’re at the stage now where we’re commissioning our heap leach operations, finishing up pre-commissioning on the SXEW plant and getting ready for first cathode. There’s a lot going on at site.

Feelings are very positive, and we’re just smashing through the work. There has been some really encouraging immediate feedback during pre-commissioning, which we recently put out in a release.

Proactive: Let’s talk about that. You’ve achieved target injection rates rapidly, and the expected copper-to-acid performance has demonstrated the suitability of direct injection leaching for the Nifty heaps. Talk us through that.

Matt Fifield: Sure. If you remember, we went through a trial process. We’ve been looking at direct injection leaching for over a year now, trying to establish its applicability for the Nifty heaps.

During pre-commissioning, we conditioned the heaps with water and found that the entire heaps were acting like an above-ground reservoir. That made the heaps suitable for injection leaching.

As we’ve stepped into commissioning the heaps and transitioning towards operations, we’ve seen more of the same.

We’re able to achieve the flow rates we want, which can underpin our mine plan. We’re also learning a couple of critical things and seeing improvements across the entire leaching activity. That’s what you’d expect at this point.

Things are turning on, and we’re doing it once, twice and then four times. You start going from day shift to day and night shift, and we’re in that sort of ramp-up towards commercial volumes.

A couple of things stood out. We saw an immediate response from putting acid into the heaps and generating copper at ratios that were, in fact, better than we had anticipated.

That’s really encouraging, seeing that fast response and the metallurgical ratios balancing out the way we want.

The rates we’ve been seeing around our injection, both high-pressure and low-pressure injection, and our production cycle have also been fantastic.

It’s really one of those positive experiences where everything is going right in the heap leaching process, in the way you’d want it to.

Proactive: Everything going right would certainly strengthen confidence. Part of that confidence comes from grade control drilling of the heaps reconciling within approximately 5% of the resource block model. Talk us through that.

Matt Fifield: Yeah. If you go to the top of the Nifty heaps now, what you’ll see looks like a wellfield, with trunk lines and production lines coming through. You’ll also see a bunch of PVC pipes sticking out of the top.

We’ve drilled about 212 wells in total, recently drilling about 98 production wells and a similar number of monitoring wells.

The monitoring wells are spaced between the injection wells, and that allows us to see fluid moving past and understand how the wellfield is working.

When we do that, we’re also grade sampling. That involves taking a composite sample from a monitoring well or production well.

We take a set number of those samples and use them to confirm our block model, so that we can later deplete the model as we produce.

It’s just what we expected. Our earlier mineral resource statement was based on drilling from 2007 until 2022. Here we are in 2026, and we just keep seeing exactly what we expect.

It’s a confidence booster. In some ways, it’s no surprise, but it’s always nice to see.

Proactive: You mentioned the wells there: 212 production and monitoring wells, with approximately 1.7 million tonnes of accessible material. How does that support the planned ramp-up over the next six to eight months?

Matt Fifield: We actually have a really conservative recovery number.

At that conservative recovery number, we’ve effectively already established that our next six to eight months of production are covered by that wellfield.

Depending on the recoveries we see, we think there might be upside in those recoveries when you look at how all the testing matches up.

It’s kind of like we’ve already banked it, and now it’s the process of switching it on and seeing the numbers grow.

It’s really more of a de-risking moment, with all of that production so quickly established as we’re going through the commissioning stage.

Proactive: Matt, finally, what work remains to complete wet commissioning and deliver that first copper cathode?

Matt Fifield: Great question. Yesterday, we brought power into the plant infrastructure from the power station. That’s the high-voltage power.

Next is putting in PLC controls and energising the plant.

When that happens, you’re basically right into wet commissioning. That’s just in front of us right now, so it’s really exciting.

There’s a lot of focus on site across operations, and with the electrical team as well, around safely energising the plant.

We’ve passed through one big milestone, and we’ve got a couple more to go.

Proactive: Plenty to look forward to, especially as we head towards the end of the year. Matt, you’ve got a lot on your plate, so I’ll let you go. Thanks for your time today.