Vale Base Metals (VBM) announced in a press release on August 13 that it is proceeding with a Coarse Particle Flotation (CPF) project at its Salobo Copper Complex in Brazil, a processing upgrade the company expects to add up to approximately 30,000 tonnes of annual copper production and accelerate the project’s start-up to the first half of 2028, roughly a year earlier than originally projected. Copper is a critical input for electric vehicles, grid infrastructure, and electronics manufacturing, all industries this site covers, which is what makes a processing efficiency gain at one of the world’s larger copper operations relevant well beyond the mining sector itself.

What Coarse Particle Flotation Actually Does

Flotation is the standard process copper producers use to separate valuable copper minerals from waste rock: crushed ore is mixed with water and chemicals, and air bubbles carry the copper-bearing particles to the surface while waste material sinks. Conventionally, ore has to be ground down to a fine particle size before flotation works effectively, and that grinding step is energy-intensive and often becomes a bottleneck limiting how much ore a plant can process. Coarse Particle Flotation adds a new flotation circuit that can separate out waste rock at a larger, coarser particle size, earlier in the process, before the more intensive fine-grinding stage. According to VBM, that reduces the grinding bottleneck, increases how much copper is recovered from the ore, and allows the plant to process significantly more material without building an entirely new grinding circuit. The company also says the approach uses less energy and water on average than other expansion methods, though the release does not provide a specific comparative figure.

What’s Actually Changing at Salobo

VBM says the project will add 6 million tonnes of annual ore processing capacity at Salobo, bringing the plant’s total to 42 million tonnes per year, and will increase annual copper production by up to approximately 30,000 tonnes contained in concentrate, along with roughly 15,000 ounces of gold as a byproduct. Because CPF is a brownfield expansion, meaning it builds onto Salobo’s existing plant and infrastructure rather than constructing a new facility from scratch, VBM frames it as lower-risk to execute than a greenfield project. The company also received its construction license from IBAMA, Brazil’s federal environmental regulator, ahead of schedule, which is part of why the start-up date moved up. Total mine movements at Salobo are expected to increase by about 7%, partly through the introduction of new autonomous haulage equipment, self-driving trucks used to move ore and waste rock, though the release does not specify how many units or over what timeframe.

How the Project Is Being Financed

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE: WPM) (TSX: WPM), which holds a streaming agreement tied to Salobo, has agreed to contribute $40 million toward the project’s capital cost, paid in two $20 million installments tied to construction milestones. A streaming agreement is a financing structure common in mining where an outside investor pays upfront or milestone-based cash in exchange for the right to buy a share of a mine’s future output, gold in this case, at a fixed, below-market price for the life of the deal. That structure lets a mining company raise capital without taking on debt or issuing new shares, while the streaming company gets exposure to future production at a locked-in cost. VBM says this $40 million replaces milestone payments Wheaton would otherwise have owed VBM under the existing streaming deal, up to $8 million a year over a 10-year period, if a separate high-grade mine plan had been implemented instead, meaning the two companies effectively restructured an existing financial arrangement rather than negotiating something entirely new.

VBM says it has also simplified the project’s scope, bringing its capital expenditure estimate down to approximately $215 million from an original $225-$275 million range; after Wheaton’s contribution, VBM’s own portion is expected to be about $175 million. The company describes the project’s capital intensity, roughly $5,000 to $6,000 per copper-equivalent tonne, as well below the industry average, though it does not cite an independent benchmark for that comparison, so readers should treat it as VBM’s own framing rather than a verified industry figure. VBM also projects an internal rate of return above 50% for the project; that figure, like the production and timeline estimates above, is a company projection based on current assumptions, not a guaranteed outcome, and actual project economics will depend on future copper and gold prices, construction costs, and execution risk that can’t be fully known in advance.

Where This Fits in VBM’s Broader Copper Pipeline

VBM describes CPF as its second Brazilian copper project to have its start-up accelerated this year, following an earlier announcement in late July that its Bacaba project would begin production six to nine months ahead of schedule. The company says its Carajás region mineral endowment, more than 53 million tonnes of contained copper across reserves and resources, including inferred resources, underpins a growth strategy targeting approximately 700,000 tonnes of annual copper production by 2035. VBM is 90% owned by Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) (B3: VALE3) and 10% by Manara Minerals Investment Company, a Saudi state-backed investor; VBM itself is not separately publicly traded.

Sources

Vale Base Metals to Proceed with Coarse Particle Flotation at Salobo Increasing and Accelerating Projected Copper Production, PRNewswire, August 13, 2026.

Editorial Disclosure

This article is based on a press release issued by Vale Base Metals on August 13, 2026, distributed via PRNewswire. Vale Base Metals (VBM) is not itself separately publicly traded; it is 90% owned by Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) (B3: VALE3) and 10% by Manara Minerals Investment Company, a privately held, state-backed investor. Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE: WPM) (TSX: WPM) is also discussed as a direct financial counterparty to this project. Next Gen Tech Stocks has not received compensation from Vale S.A., Vale Base Metals, Wheaton Precious Metals, their management, investor relations representatives, or any third party for this coverage. No staff member or principal of Next Gen Tech Stocks holds a position in these securities at the time of publication. Statements regarding project start-up timing, production volumes, capital costs, and internal rate of return are forward-looking projections based on the companies’ current assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties; actual results may differ materially. References to these companies are for market context and analytical purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation. All securities carry investment risk including possible loss of capital. Coverage on Next Gen Tech Stocks is for informational and educational purposes only. See our full Disclaimer.