What Environmental Copper Recovery does

Environmental Copper Recovery, trading as EnviroCopper Ltd, is a privately-held Australian mining technology company specialising in In-Situ Recovery (ISR) of copper and gold from stranded mineral assets. Founded in 2017 as ECR Pty Ltd and rebranded EnviroCopper Ltd in August 2019, the company is headquartered in Kapunda, South Australia, with a small team of 1-10 employees. EnviroCopper develops and applies environmentally benign lixiviant systems (glycine, methanesulfonic acid, thiosulphate) and ISR workflows tailored to fractured-rock geological settings, in collaboration with CSIRO, the University of Adelaide, MinEx CRC, and MRIWA. Its portfolio comprises two flagship projects: the Kapunda Copper & Gold ISR Project (in partnership with Terramin Australia Ltd, inferred copper resource of 119,000 tonnes with up to 80,000 tonnes potentially ISR-extractable) and the Yorke Peninsula Copper & Gold ISR Project (617 km² tenement EL 7073, JV with Andromeda Metals). Monitoring infrastructure includes the CSIRO Vesi multi-sensor water-quality system, magnetotellurics geophysics, 3D computer modelling, and a public Environmental Report Card built on GIS-based seasonal sampling.

EnviroCopper monetises through future extraction and sale of copper and gold commodity on open markets, with processed output routed via on-site Processing Plants (often using ion-exchange technology). The go-to-market model is sales-led, centred on direct engagement with landowners, farming communities (notably at Yorke Peninsula field days), Light Regional Council (Kapunda mine owner), and government regulators. The company has no current paying customers and no publicly disclosed pricing; revenue is contingent on advancing Kapunda and Yorke Peninsula from research and trial stage (a 90-day Kapunda field trial was approved in 2025) to commercial ISR production. Target customer segments span project holders with stranded mineral assets (primary), agricultural landowners open to co-land-use mining, and battery-metal/clean-energy buyers seeking ethically sourced copper. The company has raised approximately AUD 5.5 million to date (CRC-P grant 2018 plus BHP research funding August 2022), with Thor Energy PLC holding a 30% equity stake.

EnviroCopper positions ISR, branded 'Invisible Mining', as a low-impact alternative to open-cut and underground mining, citing approximately half the greenhouse gas emissions of conventional methods, minimal land disturbance, and compatibility with ongoing agricultural use. Strategic differentiators include proprietary benign-lixiviant chemistry, specialised fractured-rock ISR management know-how, partnerships with CSIRO and leading universities, and alignment with Australia's Federal Critical Mineral Strategy and South Australian Copper Strategy. The company won the SA Premier's Award for Innovation and Collaboration in Resources Sector in 2021 and operates a community-first marketing approach that emphasises transparency, VR-based education, field-day presence, and bipartisan political engagement to build social licence.

Name

Environmental Copper Recovery

Legal name

EnviroCopper Ltd

Website

https://envirocopper.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

EnviroCopper Ltd is a privately-held Australian mining technology company developing In-Situ Recovery (ISR) of copper and gold from stranded mineral assets using environmentally benign lixiviants. It serves project holders, agricultural landowners, and battery-metal buyers via two flagship projects: Kapunda and Yorke Peninsula in South Australia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Copper and Gold Mining (In-Situ Recovery)

NAICS

Copper, Nickel, Lead, and Zinc Mining (212230), Copper, Nickel, Lead, and Zinc Mining (21223), Other Metal Ore Mining (21229)

SIC

Metal Mining (1000), Miscellaneous Metal Ores (1090)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industry

Copper By-Products Recovery (Molybdenum, Gold/Silver, Sulfuric Acid) (IMAKADAH)

Keywords

• In-situ recovery mining
• Copper extraction services
• Gold mining operations
• Mineral processing solutions
• Environmental baseline assessment

Headquarters

HQ city

Kapunda

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Copper and Gold Commodity Sales: Extraction and sale of copper and gold recovered through ISR mining operations. The pregnant leached solution is extracted through production wells, piped via the Well House to a Processing Plant (often using Ion Exchange technology), and the processed commodity is sold to market.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Environmental Copper Recovery (trading as EnviroCopper) develops and applies In-Situ Recovery (ISR) technology to extract copper and gold from historic mineral deposits that cannot be economically or environmentally developed through conventional mining. The company dissolves metals in place using biodegradable lixiviants via injection and extraction wells, pumps the pregnant solution to a Processing Plant, and sells the recovered commodity to market. Operations are centred on the Kapunda and Yorke Peninsula projects in South Australia and include Site Environmental Lixiviant Trials and Environmental Baseline Assessment services.

Product overview

EnviroCopper offers a single unified service: In-Situ Recovery (ISR) technology for low-impact extraction of copper and gold from stranded mineral assets. The company's portfolio consists of two major ISR projects—the Kapunda Copper & Gold ISR Project and the Yorke Peninsula Copper & Gold ISR Project—supported by Site Environmental Lixiviant Trial (SELT) services and Environmental Baseline Assessment capabilities. EnviroCopper specializes in recovering metals from historic mine sites and underdeveloped ore-bodies where conventional mining is constrained by hydrogeology, economics, or social factors, positioning ISR as an 'invisible mining' solution that minimizes environmental footprint while enabling land access for farming and other uses.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• In-Situ Recovery (ISR) Mining Service EnviroCopper's core ISR service extracting copper and gold by dissolving the commodity in place using environmentally benign lixiviants (glycine, MSA, thiosulphate) via injection and extraction wells, pumping the pregnant solution through a Well House to a Processing Plant (often using Ion Exchange), and selling the recovered metal to market. Targeted at stranded historic mineral assets that are uneconomic or constrained under conventional mining.
• Kapunda Copper & Gold ISR Project Flagship ISR project at the historic Kapunda copper mine site in South Australia, operated under JV with Terramin Australia Ltd (ASX:TZN) with EnviroCopper earning up to 75% equity. Inferred copper resource estimate of 119,000 tonnes, of which up to 80,000 tonnes are potentially amenable to ISR extraction.
• Yorke Peninsula Copper & Gold ISR Project Second major ISR project on the Yorke Peninsula covering a 617 km² tenement (EL 7073) under JV with Andromeda Metals (ASX:ADN), including the Bruce/Larwood and Wombat copper-zinc deposits with deeply developed weathering troughs extending hundreds of metres below surface.
• Site Environmental Lixiviant Trial (SELT) Small-scale, in-field ISR testing service using limited injection and extraction wells to confirm whether target copper and gold species can be recovered under real-world geological conditions before committing to full-scale ISR production.
• Environmental Baseline Assessment Service Comprehensive environmental monitoring service covering groundwater quality monitoring via monitor bores with live tracking results, seasonal soil and water sampling, and integration into EnviroCopper's public GIS-based Environmental Report Card for community transparency and regulatory baseline reporting.

Quantifiable outcome

• ISR produces approximately half the greenhouse gas emissions of conventional mining
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• CSIROcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with CSIRO Minerals and Land & Water Divisions for baseline environmental studies, groundwater risk management strategies, social license research, and lixiviant technology development. CSIRO coined the term 'Invisible Mining' to describe ISR.
• University of AdelaidecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with University of Adelaide's Institute for Mineral and Energy Resources (IMER) on cutting-edge geophysics and 3D computer modelling to understand lixiviant and water movement in fractured rock formations.
• Mining Research Institute of WA (MRIWA)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerExtension of lixiviant work targeting specific solutions within varying rock species for improved ISR extraction efficiency.
• MinEx CRCsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliate of MinEx CRC, the world's largest mineral exploration collaboration. Enabled test site at Kapunda for CT Drill Rig testing emerging technologies including directional drilling for low footprint extraction.
• Terramin Australia Ltd (ASX:TZN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint Venture partnership where Terramin holds the tenement for Kapunda mine site. EnviroCopper earning up to 75% equity interest in the Kapunda Copper Project through staged development.
• Andromeda Metals (ASX:ADN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint Venture partnership for Yorke Peninsula project (EL 7073). Andromeda holds the tenement while EnviroCopper conducts ISR exploration and development activities.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Andromeda Metals: Andromeda Metals is the JV partner that holds the Yorke Peninsula tenement (EL 7073) where EnviroCopper conducts ISR copper exploration. Both companies operate copper/halloysite-kaolin assets in South Australia and Andromeda serves as a direct tenement partner in EnviroCopper's core ISR project.
• Thor Energy PLC: Thor Energy is a seed/strategic investor in EnviroCopper (30% stake as of 2020) and also an Australian uranium developer pursuing ISR projects. As an investor/strategic partner and concurrent ISR uranium developer, Thor is a closely-linked peer in both governance and technology overlap.
• Terramin Australia: Terramin is the JV partner that holds the Kapunda copper tenement where EnviroCopper is earning up to 75% equity. Both companies are developing copper assets in South Australia and Terramin's strategy of low-impact, near-existing-infrastructure mining closely parallels EnviroCopper's ISR positioning.
• Sandfire Resources: Sandfire Resources is an Australian mid-tier copper miner with operating assets including the DeGrussa copper mine in Western Australia. While Sandfire uses conventional underground mining, it is a direct comparable as a copper-focused Australian producer pursuing growth in the same critical-mineral thematic and operating in adjacent South Australian geography.

Broad incumbents

• Freeport-McMoRan: Freeport-McMoRan is one of the world's largest copper producers with major ISR copper leaching operations at its Morenci and other Arizona mines. While significantly larger and global, Freeport is the most directly comparable producer demonstrating commercial-scale ISR copper extraction at the scale EnviroCopper aspires to.
• BHP Group: BHP is the world's largest miner and a direct funder/strategic partner of EnviroCopper with $2.7M committed for Kapunda ISR research. While a diversified mining major (iron ore, copper, nickel, potash), BHP is the most relevant strategic comparable given its investment interest in copper ISR and ownership of the former OZ Minerals copper assets in South Australia.
• Cameco Corporation: Cameco is the world's largest uranium producer and operates ISR uranium mines including Inkai and Crow Butte. As an established ISR operator in the same underlying technology stack, Cameco is a comparable for technical and operational ISR know-how that EnviroCopper is translating to copper/gold.

Emerging players

• Alligator Energy: Alligator Energy is an Australian ISR-focused uranium developer with non-executive director Greg Hall on EnviroCopper's board. It is comparable as an emerging Australian ISR specialist applying in-situ recovery to a different commodity (uranium) but using the same fundamental well-based extraction technology.
• Cobalt Blue Holdings: Cobalt Blue is an Australian critical-mineral developer (cobalt/nickel) exploring lower-impact extraction methods. It is comparable as an emerging Australian critical-mineral company pursuing non-conventional processing routes to serve battery-metal supply chains — analogous to EnviroCopper's ISR approach for copper.
• enCore Energy: enCore Energy is a US/Australian ISR uranium producer with operating ISR uranium mines. While uranium-focused, enCore is comparable as a commercial-scale ISR operator demonstrating the technology platform that EnviroCopper is adapting to copper and gold.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/EnviroCopper

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Environmental Copper Recovery