Gunnison Copper Corp earlier this week provided an update on the status of its Johnson Camp project, which is advancing in partnership with Nuton, the technology arm of Rio Tinto.
In this interview with Proactive, Robert Winton, senior vice president of operations, updates on the company's plan to begin copper production in the third quarter of 2025.
Proactive: Welcome back inside our Proactive newsroom. We’re excited to learn a bit more about what's been going on at Johnson Camp. I know that you put out a release updating everyone on where you're at, but before we get to that part, maybe remind everyone a little bit about the project.
Robert Winton: Absolutely. The Johnson Camp project is our partnership with Nuton, who's the technology arm of Rio Tinto. They’re looking to demonstrate their new technology, which is sulfide leaching — chalcopyrite copper leaching in a heap environment — looking to change the industry. It’s an exciting project. And as I said, we are the first demonstration of this Nuton technology.
In the update, it was really about where construction's at, so tell us what point you're at and where you need to get to.
The construction mainly focuses on building a brand-new leach pad. This eight million square foot leach pad is under construction. We're about 50% through. Fortunately, we do not need to get to 100% to start operations. That is our focus now — the pipeline.
We're building a new pipeline from our processing plant out to the leach pad, as well as the equipment needed for that back and forth of solutions. The copper solution goes back to the plant, and the acidic raffinate is used to leach copper at the leach pad. We're about 50% done on that process.
That’s expected to be finished sometime in April?
Yes, April is when we're ready for the plant to begin running — that’s the plant, the operation, as well as the lab to be able to analyze for this exciting new technology. And then mining — mining is really where a lot of the activities are now focused. Stockpiling and mining activities began in earnest at the end of Q4. A lot of work is underway to prep the open pit that we're going to be utilizing for this process. These activities are underway, ore is being stockpiled, and we're waiting for the leach pad to be completed so we can begin placing the ore.
Talk to us about the opportunity here, not only working with a big partner like Rio Tinto and their offshoot, but just for Gunnison as well — putting you into that next stage as a company.
The world is excited about copper. America is excited about copper. Our new administration is really focused on the need for critical minerals. At Gunnison, and in our partnership with Nuton, we're bringing ‘Made in America’ copper into the production film, likely into Q3. These are exciting times. We're right on the edge of this new transition — ensuring critical minerals are kept within North America, especially the US.
Quotes have been lightly edited for style and clarity