Cuprum Metals Raises $19.4M in Series A Funding Round

The round also saw participation from Woodline Partners and BHP Ventures.

The company plans to use the funds to expand commercial deployments, enhance its technical capabilities, hire additional staff, and grow its customer base.

Cuprum’s technology can also be used on primary and secondary sulfide tailings, where testing has shown strong copper recovery rates. The process does not require heating, creating new opportunities to extract copper from previously processed materials and make better use of existing resources.

Read More:Karta Raises $140M in Debt and Equity Funding Round

Cuprum’s technology works at room temperature and pressure, making it effective for processing sulfide ores without the need for extreme operating conditions. In tests, it has achieved copper recoveries of more than 75% from mainly chalcopyrite ore within 100 days.

The technology is ore-agnostic, meaning it can also process oxide ores while using less acid than traditional oxide leaching methods. Test programs have been conducted at mines in South Africa the United States, Chile and Australia, delivering strong results across different ore types.

Cuprum's approach uses a water-based chemical leach, with the flexibility to operate using seawater, to achieve high recovery rates at significantly faster processing times. This process enables effective leaching of chalcopyrite and other minerals that have historically been difficult to leach, whilst reducing both operating and capital costs. Roger Pettman, PhD, DSc, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated, "With support from our investors, we are now focused on scaling the technology and expanding its application across a broader set of copper assets."

"As the Lundin Family Office, we are pleased to be leading this investment in Cuprum Metals and support the advancement of a leaching technology that has the potential to deliver meaningful benefits across the copper industry. As demand for copper continues to grow, technologies that can unlock greater value from existing resources and improve operating efficiency will play an increasingly important role. We look forward to supporting Cuprum's continued development alongside Woodline Partners and BHP Ventures."

"Technologies that can unlock more value from existing resources and improve processing efficiency are an important focus for BHP Ventures," said Laurel Buckner, Vice President, BHP Ventures. "Cuprum Metals' approach to chemical leaching has the potential to expand recovery pathways and support more flexible development options across different ore bodies."

"Woodline is pleased to support Cuprum in advancing what we believe to be one of the most flexible solutions to the copper industry's supply gap. From sulfide ores to smelter slags and tailings, we have been impressed by Cuprum's ability to rapidly recover copper from a diverse range of feedstocks without the use of heat or biological processes. We look forward to supporting the team as they continue to build and scale this innovative approach," said Andrew Pizzi, Portfolio Manager, Woodline Partners.

About Cuprum Metals

Founded in 2024 by Roger Pettman and a team of experienced chemical industry professionals, Cuprum Metals takes a chemistry and chemical engineering approach rather than a traditional mining or metallurgy approach. Using reactions commonly found in large-scale industrial chemical production, the company developed a practical technology platform that can be adapted to different types of ores and tailings. Cuprum describes its solution as a flexible “chemical toolkit” that can be fine-tuned for a wide range of mining applications.

Read More:BoolSi Raises $6M in Seed Funding Led by Fine Structure Ventures