Tartana Minerals (ASX:TAT) has completed the first shipment of copper sulphate from its newly recommissioned Tartana Mine in far north Queensland to offtake partner Kanins International.
Melbourne-headquartered Kanins has manufacturing partners in Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, China, India, Turkey, and throughout Africa and North and South America.
The news comes at a time of high copper prices, with the price of the red-metal recently hitting a 2024 high of US$10,135 ($15,326) per tonne as demand continues to climb.
Tartana, which has a market capitalisation of $8.2 million, is selling copper sulphate pentahydrate to Kanins, which supplies mineral sulphates and oxides to the agricultural market.
Copper sulphate pentahydrate is used as a fungicide and herbicide for crops including grapes, melons and other berries. It is also used to keep algae under control in freshwater lakes.
Kanins has agreed to purchase the shipment at the mine gate.
Tartana Managing Director Stephen Bartrop says the first shipment to Kanins is a significant step towards recommencing commercial steady-state production at the company’s namesake mine.
He adds it is the culmination of over two years of work in recommissioning the plant.
“Recent copper price improvements directly increase the profitability of this project as copper sulphate is priced by reference to its copper weight plus a premium,” he says.
Tartana resumed copper sulphate production in early January 2024 after Cyclone Jasper forced a halt to operations in mid-December last year.
The company began producing copper sulphate in August 2023.
Under the agreement, Kanins paid Tartana as soon as the product left the mine site and the amount the company received will be revealed in the fourth quarter of the 2024 financial year.
Tartana says further shipments are expected to begin more regularly as production ramps up. The company recently started diamond drilling to provide bulk samples for mineralogical testwork.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Tartana Minerals
