Canadian rare earths and metals recycling company Cyclic Materials Inc. will supply at least 10,000 metric tons of recycled copper to Glencore, as the Swiss miner looks to secure copper whose demand is expected to skyrocket in the coming years, its president said. executive.
As part of a multi-year agreement, Cyclic Materials will sell copper scrap to Glencore, which will process and refine the metal at its Horne copper smelter and refinery in Quebec into copper cathodes.
The Horne smelter is the largest recycler of copper and precious metals in North America, according to Glencore.
Ahmad Ghahreman, co-founder and CEO of Cyclic Materials, told Reuters that reducing copper’s carbon footprint and reusing metals are important talking points among mining companies.
Demand for copper is set to increase in the coming years due to its role in electric vehicles, renewable energy and data centers for artificial intelligence.
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Cyclic Materials expected to start supplying copper in late 2025
Demand is expected to exceed supply by 1.7% in 2035, and copper prices have reached record highs this year. It takes at least 10 years and up to $5 billion to build a copper mine from scratch.
Even if companies build mines, there are other challenges related to social capital, as seen with opposition to mining by local communities from Panama to Serbia.
Cyclic Materials, which recycles rare earths and copper from electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, MRI machines and end-of-life data center electronic scrap, is expected to start supplying in late 2025.
Although the financial details of the deal remain confidential, Ghahreman said they have been referenced to the price of high-quality copper scrap, which is at a small discount to the price of the metal on the London Metal Exchange (LME).
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange is currently trading just above $9,200 per metric ton.
Kunal Sinha, Global Head of Recycling at Glencore, said in a statement that this partnership expands the scope of the company’s recycling activities in this field, as it will receive metal materials from additional sources.
With information from Reuters.
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