MINEX Forum

Tag: Aurubis

  • Aurubis to invest € 330 million in precious metals processing and environmental protection at the Hamburg site, expanding project pipeline to € 750 millionb

    Aurubis to invest € 330 million in precious metals processing and environmental protection at the Hamburg site, expanding project pipeline to € 750 millionb

    Aurubis AG, a leading global provider of non-ferrous metals and one of the largest copper recyclers worldwide, has approved additional, comprehensive investments, with a focus on its Hamburg site. At its most recent meeting, the Supervisory Board endorsed two new projects at the North German plant for a total of € 330 million. These include around € 300 million earmarked for a new precious metals processing plant, the Precious Metals Refinery (PMR). Combined with current facilities, it will create a new, integrated high-security area for the processing of precious metals at the site. Aurubis is also allocating around € 30 million to further augment environmental protection, and announced the second stage and significant expansion of the Reducing Diffuse Emissions (RDE) system used in primary copper production.

    Aurubis investing in security for precious metals processing

    The new precious metals processing plant is slated to come online at the end of 2026. Precious Metals Hamburg comprises the entire precious metals processing chain in one closed security area. In addition to upgrading plant and precious metals security and occupational safety, Aurubis is raising the bar with the innovative process technology and systems engineering involved in the project. The newly developed metallurgical process leads to higher efficiency, which will considerably reduce throughput times for materials containing precious metals and lower operating costs by around 15 %. With this new plant, Aurubis is significantly expanding production capacity in precious metals and laying the groundwork for additional growth strategy projects.

    Doubling capacity: expanding the system to reduce diffuse emissions

    An € 85 million filter system in primary copper production has been reducing diffuse emissions at the Aurubis Hamburg site since 2021. The project involved closing roof openings on the building housing the primary smelter and connecting them to a new, high-performance filter system. The system suctions off and cleans diffuse emissions, or dust, then redirects residual quantities to the production cycle, and has already lowered the diffuse emissions discharged from primary copper production by 40 %. The new expansion stage will double the system’s efficiency to 80 %. This augmentation of the filter technology represents another significant drop in the fine particulate matter released, already below the threshold level today. Since 2000, the Aurubis Group has invested about € 830 million in environmental protection measures for copper production, achieving the highest sustainability standards in the industry.

    “By endorsing these comprehensive investment projects at its most recent meeting, the Supervisory Board affirmed its support for the Aurubis growth strategy and for strengthening our core business,” Aurubis CEO Roland Harings explained. “We are making an important contribution to sustainable, environmentally friendly, and innovative metal production with these projects.”

    We are making an important contribution to sustainable, environmentally friendly, and innovative metal production with these projects.

    Roland Harings

    Chief Executive Officer

    Implementing project pipeline lays the groundwork for a state-of-the-art smelter site in Hamburg

    These new projects combined with previously approved projects, some of which are already in progress, mean that Aurubis is currently investing a total of over € 750 million in its Hamburg plant. This includes four flagship investments:

    The first is the increased extraction of carbon-free industrial heat. In the future, the roughly € 100 million project could prevent up to an additional 100,000 t of CO2 per year, roughly five times more than the first stage.
    Second is the Complex Recycling Hamburg (CRH) project with an investment volume of € 190 million. It will give Aurubis the capacity to process around 30,000 additional t of recycling material and internal, complex smelter intermediary products on a larger scale starting in 2025.
    In spring 2024, Aurubis will take new anode furnaces online that can use hydrogen instead of natural gas in the reduction process in the future, a third key step in setting the stage for the transition to carbon neutrality. The around € 40 million investment could potentially prevent around 5,000 t of CO2 per year with the exclusive use of hydrogen.
    And fourth, the largest routine maintenance shutdown in the history of the Aurubis Hamburg plant is scheduled for the spring. Aurubis is investing around € 95 million in positioning its Hamburg smelter even more robustly for the future.

    “All these projects represent a powerful commitment to the Aurubis Hamburg site, which is central to the success of our smelter network. We’re investing a total of € 750 million in our core business, in recycling activities, and in environmental protection and plant security: The new processing area for precious metals takes security to a completely new level. We are acting quickly, decisively and with resolve – all the takeaways from the most recent criminal activities directed against Aurubis have been incorporated into the plant’s design. And by expanding our filter system for diffuse emissions, we are also intensifying our leading position as a sustainable multimetal producer,” Roland Harings explained.

    The Supervisory Board also approved an investment volume increase to € 740 million for the construction of the Aurubis Richmond plant in the US, to which leasing obligations will be added. Additional design and infrastructure requirements, adjustments for inflation, and increased complexity in implementation necessitated the expansion.

    Investing in decarbonization: Aurubis nearly doubles the largest in-house solar park in Bulgaria, adding an additional 18 MWp

    The company also confirmed plans to expand its solar park at the Aurubis plant in Bulgaria. With an investment volume of just under € 15 million, the company is almost doubling the output of the existing plant and the third stage currently under construction, adding 18 MWp (megawatt peak) for a total of almost 42 MWp. Once complete, the entire solar park will generate roughly 55,000 MWh of electricity per year, covering over 10 % of the Bulgarian plant’s needs. As such, the multimetal provider is upgrading what is already the largest in-house solar park in Southeast Europe today. Taken together, all stages of the solar park will generate enough electricity to power 15,000 four-person households, or the equivalent of a small city. Aurubis will be preventing around 28,000 t of CO2 emissions per year. The approved expansion stage is anticipated to go online in mid-2025.

  • Five charged with 11 million euro metal theft from Aurubis

    Five charged with 11 million euro metal theft from Aurubis

    Prosecutors did not name the company, but an Aurubis spokesperson confirmed separately to Reuters that it is the producer involved.

    Aurubis, Europe’s largest copper producer, has cut its earnings forecast for its current financial year and suffered a fall in its share price following major suspected metals theft.

    A statement from the Hamburg state prosecutors office said five people had been charged in connection with the theft of about 5,000 kilograms of materials containing precious metals from the company between February 2020 and January 2021. A further person has been charged with assisting them.

    Precious metals including silver are contained in copper ores and scrap which are refined for sale as byproducts by Aurubis.

    The stolen material was allegedly sold to as-yet unidentified parties but part of it was sent for analysis and further used by an unidentified company in Turkey, prosecutors said.

    The five people, aged between 33 and 50 years, used encrypted mobile phones to communicate with each other. Their trial is scheduled to start in December, prosecutors said.

  • Europe’s top copper producer Aurubis hit by huge metals scam

    Europe’s top copper producer Aurubis hit by huge metals scam

    Aurubis, Europe’s leading copper producer, has issued a warning of potential losses in the hundreds of millions of euros after falling victim to a massive scam involving shipments of scrap metal utilized in its recycling operations. This revelation caused shares in the company to plummet by as much as 18%. Aurubis suspects that certain suppliers manipulated information regarding the scrap metal they supplied and colluded with employees in the company’s sampling department to conceal the discrepancies.

    This incident has raised concerns about Aurubis’ security controls, particularly in light of the company’s announcement in June about uncovering a theft ring targeting products containing precious metals. Notably, the two incidents seem to be unrelated.

    The scam specifically pertains to materials procured for Aurubis’ metal-recycling business. In addition to raw materials from mines, the company acquires significant quantities of copper-bearing scrap, ranging from nearly new manufacturing offcuts to old cables, pipes, and electronic circuit boards. Every day, Aurubis processes thousands of tons of these materials to produce refined metal.

    According to Angela Seidler, Vice President for Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Aurubis, the company’s recycling suppliers seemingly manipulated information about the raw materials delivered to them and collaborated with employees in the sampling department to conceal the discrepancies. Suppliers provided estimates of the material’s content, and after a visual inspection, Aurubis’ laboratories analyzed the metal content and paid the firms based on these assessments. However, discrepancies were discovered during the production process over time. For example, in the case of copper, it takes approximately four weeks for the material to be processed.

    Aurubis is currently conducting a comprehensive check of its metal reserves, which is expected to be completed by the end of September. The investigation also involves Germany’s state office of criminal investigation.

    Previously, Aurubis had projected operating earnings before taxes for the 2022-23 financial year in the range of €450 million to €550 million. However, the company no longer anticipates achieving these projections and has warned of potential losses in the “low, three-digit-million-euro range.” Steelmaker Salzgitter, which holds a 30% stake in Aurubis, has also suspended its results guidance for the financial year.

    While this incident is indeed serious, Aurubis believes that its impact will be absorbed within the current fiscal year and will not affect the company’s expansion plans and strategic priorities.

    In June, Aurubis had previously reported that the public prosecutor’s office and the police were investigating a suspected theft ring. Searches were conducted at several Aurubis employee workspaces and on-site offices of contractors at the Hamburg site as part of the investigation. This incident appears to be separate from the recent scam, though it is still too early to determine if the two cases are interconnected.

    The metals industry has witnessed several scandals in recent years, including Trafigura Group’s revelation in February that it expected substantial losses due to an alleged systematic fraud involving nickel cargoes. Additionally, the London Metal Exchange shocked the market this year after discovering that some bags of nickel registered in its warehousing network contained stones rather than the expected metal.

  • Huge theft rocks Europe’s largest copper producer

    Huge theft rocks Europe’s largest copper producer

    “During a scheduled review of metal inventories, Aurubis has identified considerable discrepancies in target inventory,” the German company said Thursday in a statement. Aurubis claimed that “criminal activity” was behind the shortfall.

    Aurubis produces about 1.1 million tonnes (1.2 million tons) of copper “cathodes,” or square sheets, per year at plants in Europe and the United States. The company accounts for around 30% of Europe’s production of such copper and 3% to 5% of global output, a spokesperson told CNN.

    Copper is widely used in construction, including in electrical wires and water pipes. It is also a vital metal for energy transition as it is used in wind turbines, solar panels and electric cars.

    The financial hit from the theft at Aurubis “might be in the low, three-digit-million-euro range,” the company said, warning that as a result it will not achieve the profit it has forecast for this fiscal year.

    Shares of Aurubis plunged Friday, trading 12% lower by mid-afternoon in Europe.

    The company has involved the State Office of Criminal Investigation in Hamburg, Germany, where Aurubis is based, the copper producer said. A spokesperson for the public prosecutor’s office in Hamburg told CNN on Friday that it had not yet received any information from local police or the criminal investigation office about the reported theft.

    Aurubis has also opened investigations by internal and external experts to understand what happened and how its security could be improved.

    This is not the first time the company has disclosed suspected theft. In June, Aurubis said it had identified “past criminal activities.” The public prosecutor’s office and police are investigating an “organized theft ring” targeting “intermediate products” that contain precious metals and which are the result of the company’s production processes.