Elementos Limited (Elementos) and Atlantic Copper signed an industrial testwork partnership agreement to increase the metallurgical recovery of tin concentrates from the Oropesa tin project in Andalucía, Spain.

Elementos, an Australian-based mineral explorer and developer, holds assets in Australia and Spain. The company is advancing the Oropesa tin project in Spain, with production targeted by 2027.

On 20 March 2025, Elementos announced the execution of an industrial testwork partnership agreement with Atlantic Copper, a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan and a major copper producer in Spain. Under this agreement, Atlantic Copper will fund the production of a laboratory sample of tin concentrate from Oropesa’s lower-grade ore and process waste. Subsequent testwork by Atlantic Copper will evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of smelting this concentrate into tin metal products at its CirCular plant at the Port of Huelva, located 245km from the Oropesa tin project.

Elementos had already begun considering domestic downstream processing options in 2024. Mid-way through the year, Elementos, through a wholly owned Spanish subsidiary, signed a non-binding term sheet with secondary tin smelter and solder manufacturer CRM Synergies to acquire up to a 50% interest in Iberian Smelting, owner of the Robledollano tin smelting and refining facility in Spain. If the plant proves to be a cost-effective option for smelting concentrate from Oropesa when operations commence, the move will see Elementos become a vertically integrated tin producer.

European refined tin production is limited. In 2024, approximately 15kt of refined tin was produced in Europe, accounting for 4% of global production, according to Project Blue. Of this refined tin production, 91% came from secondary recovery routes, while the remaining 9% was derived from primary tin smelting, highlighting Europe’s limited primary tin smelting capacity, which is currently confined to Russia. Therefore, the potential success of this test work is particularly significant, as Elementos stands to gain an additional domestic refining avenue for its future tin concentrate production, boosting European refined tin production.