Ero Copper Corp. (Ero), together with its subsidiaries, is a high-growth copper producer with operations in Brazil.
The company’s primary business is to produce and sell copper. The company also produces and sells gold.
Ero’s principal asset is its approximately 99.6% ownership interest in Mineração Caraíba S.A. (MCSA), held indirectly through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ero Brasil Participações Ltda. (‘EBP’). MCSA’s predominant activity is the production and sale of copper concentrate from t...
Ero Copper Corp. (Ero), together with its subsidiaries, is a high-growth copper producer with operations in Brazil.
The company’s primary business is to produce and sell copper. The company also produces and sells gold.
Ero’s principal asset is its approximately 99.6% ownership interest in Mineração Caraíba S.A. (MCSA), held indirectly through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ero Brasil Participações Ltda. (‘EBP’). MCSA’s predominant activity is the production and sale of copper concentrate from the Caraíba Operations, with gold and silver produced and sold as by-products. The Caraíba Operations consist of a fully integrated hub-and-spoke operating model, with mining activities conducted at the Pilar underground mine, the Vermelhos underground mine, and the Surubim open pit mine feeding the central Caraíba Mill, a conventional crushing, grinding and flotation mill located adjacent to the Pilar underground mine. In addition, MCSA holds a 100% interest in the Tucumã Operations, which is ramping up to commercial production, with the first saleable copper concentrate produced in July 2024.
Ero also owns an approximately 97.6% ownership interest in NX Gold S.A. (NX Gold), held indirectly through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ero Gold Corp. (‘Ero Gold’). NX Gold’s predominant activity is the production and sale of gold from the Xavantina Operations, with silver produced as a by-product.
The Caraíba Operations, Xavantina Operations and the Tucumã Operations are the mineral projects material to Ero.
Ero also has the option to earn a 60% interest in the Furnas copper-gold project, located in the Carajás Mineral Province in Pará State, Brazil (the ‘Furnas Project’) approximately 50 kilometers southeast of Vale Base Metal's (‘VBM’) Salobo operations and approximately 190 kilometers northeast of Tucumã Operations.
Principal Products and Operations
The company’s principal product is copper produced and sold from the Caraíba Operations and the Tucumã Operations, with gold and silver produced and sold as by-products. Gold and, as a by-product, silver is also produced and sold from the Xavantina Operations. During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Caraíba Operations processed 3,431,294 tonnes of material, producing 35,444 tonnes of copper; the Tucumã Operations, where production continues to ramp-up, processed 333,791 tonnes of material, producing 5,156 tonnes of copper; and, the Xavantina Operations processed 146,161 tonnes of material, producing 57,210 ounces of gold.
There are global copper and gold markets into which the company can sell its copper concentrate and gold.
MCSA sells its final copper concentrate, containing gold and silver as by-product metals, to various international trading companies that ship the copper concentrate purchased from MCSA to smelters globally via the Barra dos Coqueiros port located in Barra dos Coqueiros, Sergipé State, Brazil. All copper concentrate is transported from site to the port by road using standard highway trucks, which are weighed and sampled for final assay prior to shipment.
NX Gold produces and sells doré bars containing gold and silver to COIMPA Industrial Ltda. (‘COIMPA’). The doré bars are transported to COIMPA’s facility in Manaus, State of Amazonas, Brazil by airplane using a secure gravel airstrip located on the Xavantina Operations.
Foreign Operations
Ero’s material properties are the Caraíba Operations, the Xavantina Operations and the Tucumã Operations, each located in Brazil. Foreign operations accounted for 100% of the company’s revenue and represented approximately 96% of its assets as at December 31, 2024. Accordingly, the company is entirely dependent on its foreign operations for the exploration and development of its properties and for the production of copper and gold.
Caraíba Operations
Ero is a Vancouver-based publicly listed copper mining company. Ero’s principal asset is a 99.6% interest in MCSA, a Brazilian mining company operating in the Curaçá Valley, northeastern Bahia State, Brazil. The regional Ero Brasil operations in Bahia include fully integrated processing operations and, three active producing mining locations within the Curaçá Valley. The active operations include the Caraíba Complex (consisted of the underground Pilar Mine (‘Pilar UG Mine’), the underground Vermelhos Mine (‘Vermelhos UG Mine’), the Surubim Mine and the integrated Caraíba Mill (which includes an inactive solvent extraction electrowinning plant (‘SX/EW Plant’)). The past producing operations include the open pit mines of R22 (‘R22 Mine’), as well as the historic mines of Angicos (‘Angicos Mine’) and Suçuarana (‘Suçuarana Mine’). Collectively the active and past-producing mines comprise the ‘Caraíba Operations’. Additionally, future operations are forecast to occur later in the production plan within the northern part of the Curaçá Valley including: the adjacent Vermelhos West (N8) and Vermelhos East (N9) open pits (collectively the ‘N8/N9 OP Mine’), the Siriema open pit mine (‘Siriema OP Mine’), collectively with the active Vermelhos UG Mine comprise the mineral reserves within the ‘Vermelhos District’. In the central part of the Curaçá Valley, future operations include: the expansion of the adjacent Surubim and C-12 underground mine (the ‘C-12 UG Mine’) and the C-12 open pit (‘C-12 OP Mine’), collectively the Surubim Mine, which re-started operations during 2022, comprise the stated mineral reserves of the ‘Surubim District’. In the southern part of the Curaçá Valley, the past producing Suçuarana open pit (‘Suçuarana OP Mine’) and the R22W open pit (‘R22W OP Mine’), collectively with the active Pilar UG Mine comprise the stated mineral reserves of the ‘Pilar District’. The Pilar District is located approximately 385km north-northwest of Salvador and 90km southeast of Petrolina, in the state of Bahia, Brazil. The center of the Surubim District is located approximately 33km north of the Pilar UG Mine and Caraíba Mill (jointly referred to as the ‘Caraíba Mine’) at the Surubim Mine, while the center of the Vermelhos District and the Vermelhos UG Mine is located another 31km north-northwest of the Surubim Mine. In aggregate, mining and development activities occur over approximately 100km in strike length across the Curaçá Valley.
The Caraíba Operations have an extensive operating history in the region. Ero Brasil owns a 100% interest in the Caraíba Operations, including the above-mentioned mines, integrated processing facilities and all supporting infrastructure. The Pilar UG Mine produces a nominal 4,000 to 6,000 t/d, or approximately 1.0 to 1.5 Mtpa from underground operations that, combined with the nominal 3,000 to 5,000 t/d, or approximately 1.5 Mtpa mined from satellite mining operations within the Caraíba Operations, including the Vermelhos UG Mine and the Surubim Mine, serves as feed for the Caraíba Mill. The Caraíba Mill is producing high quality, low impurity copper concentrate grading approximately 33%-35% copper. The concentrate typically contains minor amounts of precious metals. Historical average grades of precious metals in concentrate are approximately 2 g/t gold and 43 g/t silver in concentrate.
The Caraíba Operations are located in northeastern Bahia State, Brazil, about 385 km north-northwest of the capital city of Salvador. As of the Effective Date, Ero Brasil holds, has applications in process, or has negotiated agreements with third-parties for a north-trending set of 138 mineral exploration rights, six mining concessions and seven additional mining concessions are under application. The property, including mining and permits under application covers a total area of 185,865.0 ha. The exploration rights held or with applications in process cover an area of 171,045.2 ha and consist of areas up for renewal as well as negotiated with third-parties under normal course of business. Ero Brasil holds 100% legal and beneficial ownership of exploration rights for a period varying up to three years with three-year extensions provided annual reporting requirements are performed on the property. Within the exploration rights, Ero Brasil’s interests include the right to access the property, to engage in exploration, development, processing, and construction activities in the support of mineral exploration and development.
Mining and development activities are contained within seven mining concessions covering 3,299.6 ha. In addition, Ero Brasil has seven applications for mining covering 10,521.4 ha. Within the mining concessions, Ero Brasil holds 100% legal and beneficial ownership.
Mining operations within the Curaçá Valley are consisted of two core operations: the Pilar UG Mine and the Vermelhos UG Mine.
The Caraíba Operations infrastructure includes fully integrated mining and processing operations located within the Curaçá Valley. All supporting infrastructure required for mining operations are in place. The mining operations include the Pilar UG Mine, the Vermelhos UG Mine and the Surubim Mine. Primary components of installed infrastructure comprising the Caraíba Operations outside of the individual mining operations, include: Caraíba Mill processing plant with installed capacity of approximately 3.2Mtpa undergoing an expansion to increase installed capacity to 4.2Mtpa by the end of 2023; access to water via an Ero Brasil owned, operated and maintained 86km permanent steel pipeline, 80cm in diameter, from the São Francisco River; water treatment plant; metallurgical laboratory; main substation and transformers, each configured with 60 MVA / 230 kV / 13.8 kV; power lines supplied by Companhia Hidroelétrica do São Francisco (‘CHESF’), a Brazilian State-owned power company; ancillary surface buildings, including maintenance, security and administration; and an inactive Solvent Extraction and Electrowinning (‘SX/EW’) operations.
Xavantina Operations
Ero’s principal asset is its 99.6% ownership interest in MCSA. MCSA’s predominant activity is the production and sale of copper concentrate from the Caraíba Operations, which is located within the Curaçá Valley, northeastern Bahia State, Brazil, with gold and silver produced and sold as by-products. Ero’s wholly owned subsidiary, Ero Gold (existing under the BCABC) owns a 97.6% ownership interest in NX Gold.
NX Gold owns a 100% interest in the Xavantina Operations, located in the eastern portion of the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil. The mine is located 18km west of the town of Nova Xavantina, with a population of approximately 21,000 people, and approximately 660 km east of Cuiabá, the capital city of Mato Grosso. The total Xavantina Operations property, including exploration licences, measures approximately 133,770 hectares (‘ha’). The property is consisted of one mining concession, where all mining and processing activities occur (registration number 866269/1990), that totals 614 ha and 21 exploration licenses covering an area of approximately 133,156 ha. Within the mining concession, NX Gold holds 100% legal and beneficial ownership, including surface rights.
Within the exploration licences, NX Gold’s interests include the right to access the property and to engage in exploration, development, processing, and construction activities in the support of mineral exploration and development.
The facilities at the Xavantina Operations include the mine portal, the processing plant, tailings storage facility, mechanical workshop, administrative offices, metallurgical laboratory, security gate and guard facilities, medical clinic, a cafeteria and a gravel airstrip used to fly out doré bars after production.
National electrical service is available on site from the town of Nova Xavantina, located approximately 18 km from the Xavantina Operations. The mine is supplied through a 34.5 kV power transmission line (600 kVA), owned by the state public utility, ENERGISA S/A.
The Xavantina Operations is a fully permitted gold mine in operation.
Tucumã Project
The Boa Esperança copper deposit is in the municipality of Tucumã, Pará State, Brazil.
The Carajás Mineral Province, where the Boa Esperança copper deposit is located, is on the east side of the Amazon Craton and is considered one of the most important mineral provinces in Brazil.
The Carajás Mineral Province encompasses two distinct tectonic domains, both Archean in age.
Boa Esperança copper deposit is considered as a variant of an Iron Oxide Copper Gold (IOCG) deposit type, with the presence of higher sulphur minerals and a high quartz content, the absence of pervasive hydrothermal alterations of the host rock, and the absence of gold. Granite (‘GRA’) and breccia (‘BXX’) are two main rock types recognized from the deposit.
The proposed Boa Esperança mine is a greenfield site but is located in a region of reasonable infrastructure.
The Boa Esperança Project copper concentrate is generally expected to be of high quality with low levels of deleterious elements. As such, combined with Ero’s experience selling copper concentrate from its Curaçá Valley operations, Ero expects that the copper concentrate from the Boa Esperança Project will be in high demand from traders and smelters.
The Tucumã Operations’ power line was constructed and connected on January 26, 2024. Power to the Tucumã Operations is supplied by Equatorial Energy Group Company.
History
Ero Copper Corp. was founded in 2016. The company was incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) in 2016.