The company said the ENAMI stockpile material is already crushed and is located within 55 kilometres by road of Sierra Atacama. Cobre plans to transport about 30,000 tonnes a month and blend it with ore from its underground mining operations.
Metallurgical column leach testwork on the ENAMI material returned 58% copper recovery and laboratory acid consumption of about 45 kilograms per tonne, according to Cobre. For industrial-scale planning, the company is applying a more conservative recovery assumption of about 50%.
Cobre has also begun a staged assessment of historical leach pads, with early surface-irrigation trials generating copper-rich pregnant leach solution. The company intends to optimise irrigation and solution chemistry before assessing further recovery methods, including injection leaching, during the December 2026 quarter.
Source: Download CBE official ASX announcement, 2026-10-21.
Photograph of irrigation on a historical stacked leach pad, from Cobre's 21 October 2026 company announcement.