South Korean Battery Copper Foil Makers See Q2 Rebound, Boosted by Global Demand Recovery

Sumitomo Corporation of Japan announced on August 28 that, through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) established on a 50:50 basis with G Mining Group, it will participate in the Dos Amigos copper-gold project in Chile. The SPV subscribed for approximately CAD 48 million in private placement shares of Canada’s Tintina Mines, with Sumitomo contributing about CAD 24 million. Upon completion of the transaction, the SPV will hold about a 25% equity stake in Tintina, giving Sumitomo an effective economic interest of approximately 12.5% in the project. This round of financing will be used to acquire the remaining interest in Dos Amigos and to advance drilling, feasibility studies, environmental assessments, and permitting work in preparation for the final investment decision (FID). The project is located in Chile’s Atacama Region at an elevation of about 800 meters, near highways, the power grid, and coastal logistics facilities. The 2026 PEA showed measured and indicated resources of approximately 101 million mt and inferred resources of approximately 256 million mt. The project is expected to adopt open-pit mining and flotation processing, with ore throughput of 35,000 mt per day and a mine life of about 25 years, and is expected to produce an average of 37,000 mt of copper and 57,000 ounces of gold per year. The project is currently still in the study and permitting stage and has not yet generated incremental copper supply.

China’s sulphuric acid market remained weak, with widening price divergence; low-end prices in Shandong are expected to stabilize [SMM Sulphuric Acid Weekly Review]