Tartana Minerals Limited (ASX: TAT) has announced significant progress towards the recommencement of its Copper Sulphate Pentahydrate production, with key operational milestones now achieved. Tartana Minerals Limited is an Australian explorer and project developer with a substantial landholding in the Chillagoe region of Far North Queensland. The company holds the Tartana Mining Leases, from which it produces copper sulphate, supporting ongoing operations while advancing exploration and development across its broader asset base. The company reports the completion of its heap leach pad restack program and advanced plant upgrades, positioning for a production restart within the next three weeks.
The heap leach pad restack program at the Tartana Mining Leases is now complete, with approximately 50,000 tonnes of copper-mineralised pit fill excavated and stacked onto the lower heap leach pad. This initiative followed a late 2025 process optimisation review that identified higher-grade copper mineralisation in the pit fill’s eastern section. Test work earlier this year confirmed an average leachable copper grade of 0.22% Cu, with grades up to 1% Cu in these priority zones. Preliminary pXRF readings from the stacked material are consistent with this average. Strategically, this program also removes overburden, facilitating future access to the primary copper resource.
Concurrently, upgrades to critical plant infrastructure are progressing on schedule. The primary focus is the fabrication and installation of a new chiller circuit, a vital component for the Solvent Extraction – Crystallisation plant. Fabrication is well advanced, with site installation imminent and commissioning expected within the next two weeks. This upgrade, part of a A$0.435 million investment, aims to improve plant reliability and support consistent copper sulphate throughput towards approximately 350 tonnes per month. With these developments, Tartana anticipates Copper Sulphate production to recommence within three weeks, targeting the first shipment to its 100% offtaker, Kanins International, by mid-May 2026.
