NewRange Copper Nickel

What NewRange Copper Nickel does

NewRange Copper Nickel LLC is a privately held 50:50 joint venture between PolyMet Mining Corp. (a Glencore subsidiary) and Teck Resources Limited, formed in February 2023 to consolidate and advance two large copper-nickel-platinum group metal (PGM) deposits — NorthMet and Sunrise (formerly Mesaba) — in the Duluth Complex of northeastern Minnesota. The company is staffed by approximately 27 retained team members (with active hiring to expand), supported by an executive bench drawn from Teck, Glencore, and other mining majors, and governed by a Board of Managers with rotating chairmanship between the two parents. Its intended product is copper, nickel-copper, cobalt, palladium, platinum, and gold concentrates (and potentially downstream hydrometallurgical products at Sunrise), extracted via open-pit mining with conventional crushing, grinding, and flotation circuits and sold under negotiated offtake arrangements to domestic and international smelters and refineries.

The cornerstone development is the NorthMet Project, a permitted 32,000 tons-per-day open-pit operation with a 20-year mine life requiring over $1 billion in construction capital; 21 of 24 permits are already in hand, but the final Clean Water Act Section 404 permit is still pending re-submission. To derisk and prepare the brownfield site, NewRange completed a $20 million LTV Steel salvage, recycle, and cleanup program in December 2024 and commissioned four project-wide environmental studies in August 2024 covering tailings storage, water science, efficient production, and carbon reduction. The company is pursuing first-of-its-kind-in-Minnesota environmental commitments, including water treatment reaching sulfate levels 25 times lower than drinking water standards, pursuit of a net-negative carbon footprint via tailings carbon sequestration, and conformance with the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management.

Commercially, the company operates a B2B commodity-concentrate model: pricing is dictated by global metals markets and smelter treatment charges rather than negotiated per-unit rates, and customers are smelter and refinery operators, with end-market exposure to U.S. defense (tactical armor, aerospace alloys, precision-guided munitions), clean energy / battery manufacturing (lithium-ion batteries, EVs, grid infrastructure), data centers, and consumer electronics. Pre-revenue and pre-construction today, NewRange is dependent on continued capital from its parents Teck and Glencore and on federal permitting momentum, including its May 2025 Federal Transparency Project designation by the National Energy Dominance Council.

Name

NewRange Copper Nickel

Legal name

NewRange Copper Nickel LLC

Website

https://newrangecoppernickel.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NewRange Copper Nickel LLC is a 50:50 joint venture between Teck Resources and PolyMet/Glencore developing the NorthMet and Sunrise copper-nickel-PGM deposits in Minnesota's Duluth Complex, targeting production of critical mineral concentrates for defense, clean energy, and electronics supply chains.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Copper and Nickel Mining

NAICS

Copper, Nickel, Lead, and Zinc Mining (212230), Copper, Nickel, Lead, and Zinc Mining (21223)

SIC

Metal Mining (1000)

akta.pro primary industry

Copper Ore Mining (Open-Pit & Underground) (IMAKADAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Nickel Mining & Concentrates (IMAKAFAB), Copper By-Products Recovery (Molybdenum, Gold/Silver, Sulfuric Acid) (IMAKADAH), Copper Exploration & Resource Development (IMAKADAA)

Keywords

• Copper nickel mining
• Critical minerals production
• Platinum group metals
• Mineral concentrate sales
• Cobalt extraction

Headquarters

HQ city

Hoyt Lakes

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Copper Concentrate Sales: Mining and sale of copper concentrate produced from the NorthMet and Sunrise deposits. Copper is essential for data centers powering AI, energy generation, grid transmission, tactical armor, and medical devices.
2. Nickel Concentrate Sales: Production and sale of nickel concentrate for stainless steel, aerospace alloys, and lithium-ion battery production for consumer electronics and vehicles.
3. Cobalt Sales: Extraction and sale of cobalt for mobile phones, military aircraft, battery technology, and medical devices like heart valves.
4. Platinum Group Metals (Palladium, Platinum): Byproduct recovery of palladium for catalytic converters and water electrolyzers, and platinum for cancer treatments and permanent magnets.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

NewRange Copper Nickel is a 50:50 joint venture between Teck Resources and PolyMet/Glencore that develops and will produce copper, nickel, cobalt, and platinum group metal concentrates from the NorthMet and Sunrise deposits in Minnesota's Duluth Complex. The company operates open-pit mining and processing facilities to supply domestic critical minerals to smelters, refineries, and industrial buyers.

Product overview

NewRange Copper Nickel is a joint venture between Teck Resources and PolyMet (later Glencore) that operates two major copper-nickel mining projects in Minnesota's Iron Range: NorthMet and Sunrise. The company extracts and processes critical minerals including copper, nickel, cobalt, palladium, platinum, and gold from the Duluth Complex. The NorthMet Project is a 32,000 tons per day open-pit mining operation, while the Sunrise Project represents a future strategic copper-nickel and platinum group metal resource. The company also provides site remediation services at former mining operations. The NorthMet project is currently awaiting final regulatory approval, while baseline studies and pre-development work continue for the Sunrise project.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• NorthMet Project

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1,000 jobs created (360+ operations + 700 construction)
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, minor and core.

• Teck Resources LimitedflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 February 202350:50 joint venture partner holding the NorthMet and Mesaba/Sunrise deposits under NewRange Copper Nickel LLC. Teck brings global mining expertise, technical capabilities, and hydrometallurgical processing technology. The partnership combines local values with global knowledge, operating expertise, and commitment to sustainability from Teck Resources and Glencore.
• PolyMet Mining Corp.flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 February 202350:50 joint venture partner (through Teck American Inc.) holding the NorthMet and Mesaba/Sunrise deposits under NewRange Copper Nickel LLC. PolyMet contributed the NorthMet project and associated assets to the joint venture.
• Glencore AGflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 February 2023Glencore joined as the parent company partner, bringing global commodity trading, marketing expertise, and additional technical capabilities to the NewRange joint venture alongside Teck Resources.
• Work ShieldminorOthersThird-party ethics reporting platform partner providing a safe and impartial way for employees, contractors, and guests to report workplace misconduct, harassment, and discrimination concerns to be heard, investigated, and resolved without fear of retaliation.
• United SteelworkerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner2024 cooperation agreement with United Steelworkers union, demonstrating commitment to labor relations and worker protections in operations.
• Building TradescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing Project Labor Agreement with Building Trades union for construction work, ensuring skilled union labor participation in NorthMet project development.
• Operating Engineers Local 49coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUnion labor representing local workers who played an instrumental role in the massive salvage and recycle of the former LTV Steel concentrator, including crane operations and heavy equipment work.
• Veit (Minnesota-based contractor)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMinnesota-based contractor performing demolition and cleanup work at the former LTV Steel site as part of the salvage and recycle project.
• Vic's Crane & Heavy Haul (Minnesota-based contractor)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMinnesota-based contractor providing crane and heavy haul services for the salvage and recycle project at the former LTV Steel site.
• Hunt Electric and Parsons Electric (Minnesota-based contractors)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMinnesota-based electrical contractors performing electrical restoration work at the historic LTV Steel mill building as part of site preparation.
• Bois Forte Band of ChippewacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of three Ojibwe Nations sharing geography with northeastern Minnesota. Jenna Lehti, a citizen of Bois Forte, serves as Tribal Relations Advisor. Company committed to implementing inclusive procurement practices encouraging participation by Native contractors.
• Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior ChippewacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of three Ojibwe Nations sharing geography with northeastern Minnesota. Company is committed to building relationships grounded in trust, transparency, and mutual benefit.
• Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior ChippewacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of three Ojibwe Nations sharing geography with northeastern Minnesota. Company is committed to building relationships grounded in trust, transparency, and mutual benefit.

Scale indicators23 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Freeport-McMoRan: Freeport-McMoRan is the world's largest publicly traded copper producer, operating Grasberg in Indonesia and major North and South American copper assets. It is a broad incumbent peer setting benchmark capital and operating costs for the global copper industry and a likely reference point for NewRange's eventual offtake customers and capital providers.
• KGHM Polska Miedź: KGHM is one of the world's largest copper and silver producers, with integrated mining, smelting, and refining operations. As a broad incumbent in primary copper production, it represents the kind of large-scale, vertically integrated competitor and benchmark that NewRange will compete against once NorthMet reaches production.
• First Quantum Minerals: First Quantum is a major global copper miner with operations in Zambia (Sentinel, Kansanshi), Panama (Cobre Panamá — currently suspended), and Spain. Its copper concentrate production model and exposure to greenfield project execution risk make it a broad incumbent comparable for NewRange's planned open-pit copper-nickel concentrate operation.
• Antofagasta plc: Antofagasta is a major copper producer operating four mines in Chile (Los Pelambres, Centinela, Antucoya, Zaldivar). As a focused copper pure-play with extensive experience in open-pit mining, concentrate marketing, and water stewardship in environmentally sensitive regions, it is a broad incumbent peer relevant to NewRange's long-term production profile.

Direct peers

• Lundin Mining: Lundin Mining is a diversified base metals producer with significant copper and nickel operations (Caserones, Candelaria, Eagle, Neves-Corvo). It is a direct comparable for NewRange's planned copper-nickel concentrate production, with a similar commodity mix and B2B concentrate sales motion targeting smelters and refiners.
• Hudbay Minerals: Hudbay is a copper-focused miner with producing assets in Manitoba (Snow Lake) and Peru (Constancia), plus the Copper Mountain mine in British Columbia. Its copper-zinc concentrate output and North American operating footprint make it a direct comparable for NewRange's concentrate business model and target customer base.
• Talon Metals: Talon Metals is developing the Tamarack nickel-copper project in central Minnesota, directly comparable to NewRange's NorthMet and Sunrise deposits in terms of jurisdiction, commodity mix (nickel-copper with PGM byproducts), and stage (pre-construction). Both companies are pursuing domestic US critical minerals production in Minnesota and face overlapping environmental and tribal stakeholder dynamics.
• Western Copper and Gold: Western Copper and Gold is developing the Casino copper-gold-molybdenum project in Yukon, Canada. As a pre-construction copper developer with a large resource base and multi-decade mine life, it is highly comparable to NewRange in terms of development stage, commodity mix, and the regulatory and capex challenges of bringing a large North American copper project into production.

Emerging players

• Solaris Resources: Solaris Resources is advancing the Warintza copper-molybdenum project in Ecuador. As an emerging developer of a large, high-grade copper porphyry resource, Solaris is comparable to NewRange in terms of scale of contained copper, development stage, and the multi-year permitting and capex journey to first production.
• Duluth Metals Limited: Duluth Metals is a Canadian exploration and development company focused on copper-nickel-PGM resources in the Duluth Complex, directly adjacent to NewRange's NorthMet and Sunrise deposits. As a junior exploring the same geological formation for the same commodity basket, it provides a regional asset-level comparison for NewRange's resource base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/newrangecoppernickel
• Facebookfacebook.com/newrangecoppernickel

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NewRange Copper Nickel