Cobre’s copper recovery method delivers winning results
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Cobre’s copper recovery method delivers winning results
Botswana’s KCB is the next frontier for copper exploration and innovation.
Botswana’s Kalahari Copper Belt (KCB) is proving to be the next frontier for copper exploration and innovation to sustainably, and with minimal environmental impacts, extract the ore from underground deposits.
ASX listed Cobre, for example, has just successfully demonstrated the complete in-situ copper recovery (ISCR) process at the Ngami project under laboratory conditions.
In addition to the Ngami project, Cobre is also advancing the Kitlanya and Okavango exploration projects in the KCB.
Dissolving copper in situ
ISCR is a mining method that extracts copper directly from the ore body without digging an open pit or developing underground shafts.
The process involves drilling small boreholes into the copper-bearing rock and injecting a mild, environmentally controlled solution that dissolves the copper minerals in place.
The copper-rich solution is then pumped back to the surface, where the metal is recovered through standard processing methods.
Because the ore is never physically removed, ISCR significantly reduces surface disturbance, waste rock, water use, and energy consumption, offering a lower-impact alternative to conventional mining.
Backed by mining majors
The laboratory test program resulted in more than 82.2% copper recovery from intact ore samples that resulted in smooth, adherent and high-quality copper cathode.
Cobre is backed by mining major BHP who funds exploration drilling across Kitlanya and by Chinese company Sinomine International which has invested more than ASD 1.5-million and holds options to invest further and acquire 70% of the Okavango Project following phase 1 exploration.
Image: Cobre’s Ngami exploration project in Botswana when WhyAfrica visted the site in 2022. Image credit: Leon Louw for WhyAfrica.
Cobre’s copper recovery method delivers winning results
