Vale Base Metals accelerated its Salobo CPF expansion to first half 2028 with Wheaton funding $40 million. Copper output to rise 30,000 tonnes a year.
Vale Base Metals will proceed with a Coarse Particle Flotation project at its Salobo Copper Complex in Brazil, pushing completion forward to the first half of 2028 from a prior timeline. The company already holds the construction license from Brazil's environmental agency IBAMA.
The CPF expansion adds 6 million tonnes of annual ore processing capacity, lifting Salobo's total to 42 million tonnes a year. Annual copper output should rise by roughly 30,000 tonnes contained in concentrate, plus an estimated 15,000 ounces of gold as a byproduct. The project follows record copper production at Salobo in both 2024 and 2025.
"This should clearly demonstrate the strength of our project pipeline and our ability to de-risk, optimize and deliver low capital-intensity, high-return projects," CEO Shaun Usmar said. He pointed to an earlier VBM project at Bacaba that came in six to nine months early.
Wheaton Precious Metals agreed to provide $40 million toward the capital spend, split into two $20 million payments tied to project milestones. The money replaces future milestone payments under the existing Salobo streaming agreement, which would have run up to $8 million a year for a decade under a high-grade mine plan. Wheaton keeps exposure to the extra gold byproduct the CPF project will generate.
"This is a true win-win for Wheaton and VBM," Usmar said.
VBM trimmed the project's capex estimate to roughly $215 million, down from an earlier range of $225 million to $275 million. After Wheaton's contribution, VBM's net share comes to about $175 million. The capital intensity of $5,000 to $6,000 per copper equivalent tonne sits well below the industry average.
The CPF circuit removes waste rock earlier in the processing stream, reducing grinding requirements. That eases a bottleneck in the existing mill and lifts metallurgical recovery. The company also expects lower average energy and water use versus conventional methods. Total mine movements at Salobo should rise about 7%, helped partly by new autonomous haulage equipment.
VBM spent two years on lab testing at its Sheridan Park facility in Canada and runs a pilot plant in Brazil's Carajás region, where Salobo and the company's other Brazilian copper assets sit. The company said it is studying CPF applications at other projects in its portfolio, including polymetallic ore bodies.
The copper pipeline ties into VBM's target of roughly 700,000 tonnes of annual copper production by 2035, built mostly on its Brazilian resource base of more than 53 million tonnes of contained copper in reserves and resources. The operations sit near existing mining complexes, processing plants, and power infrastructure.
VBM is 90% owned by Vale S.A. and 10% by Manara Minerals Investment Company. At its current Alpha Score of 49/100, labeled Mixed, Vale carries a VALE stock page on AlphaScala. Wheaton Precious Metals, with an Alpha Score of 68/100 (Moderate), tracks on a WPM stock page.
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