Canada’s Cyclic Materials joins Glencore in copper recycling push

Toronto — Canadian rare earth and metals recycler Cyclic Materials will supply at least 10 thousand tonnes of recycled copper to Glencore as the Swiss miner looks to secure copper that is expected to soar in demand in the coming years, Cyclic Materials CEO Ahmad Ghahreman said.

As part of a multiyear agreement, Cyclic Materials will sell copper scrap to Glencore, which will process and refine the metal at its Horne smelter and Copper Refinery in Quebec to turn it into copper cathodes. The Horne smelter is North America’s largest recycler of copper and precious metals, according to Glencore.

Ghahreman said reducing the carbon footprint of copper and reusing metals are an important conversation among mining companies.

The call for copper is poised to surge in coming years due to its role in electric vehicles, renewable energy and data centres for artificial intelligence.

Demand is expected to outstrip supply by 1.7% in 2035 while copper prices have scaled to record highs this year. It takes at least 10 years and as much as $5bn to build a copper mine from scratch. Even if companies do build mines there are other challenges with social capital as seen with opposition to mining by local communities from Panama to Serbia.

Cyclic Materials, which recycles rare earths and copper from end-of-life electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, MRI machines, and data centre electronic scrap, is expected to start delivery by the end of 2025.

Though the financial deals of the agreement are still confidential, Ghahreman said they have benchmarked to the price of high grade scrap copper, which is at a small discount to the LME copper price.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange is trading just above $9,200/tonne.

Kunal Sinha, global head of recycling at Glencore, said this partnership broadens the scope for the company’s recycling activities in this field as it will receive copper materials from additional sources.

Reuters