Infinity Mining appears to have found a clever way to breathe fresh life into its flagship Cangai copper project in northern New South Wales - and it is coming from an unlikely place.
The company has executed a second binding memorandum of cooperation with Orivium Global to include the processing of lucrative e-waste alongside historic ore stockpiles.
The strategic expansion builds on a previous agreement for metals recovery, enabling the company to pursue a two-pronged revenue stream from both forgotten mine waste and Australia’s mounting pile of electronic scrap.
The move provides Infinity with direct exposure to the Australian e-waste market, currently valued at $1.5 billion and projected to grow at 6.2 per cent annually through to 2034.
The expanded partnership is designed to extract a high-value suite of materials, including gold, silver, copper, nickel, rare earth elements and other critical metals.
The primary focus for the combined processing will be the Infiniti’s existing stockpiles at its Cangai copper project in NSW. Laboratory work has already validated the recovery of minerals from historical smelter slag and ex-mine oxide dumps. Cangai’s 200,000-tonne stockpiles host copper grading 1.35 per cent, zinc running up to 5.93 per cent, featuring gold and silver credits.
In a major win for project economics, Orivium’s latest technology can now process both mineral ore and e-waste through a single, integrated plant. This unified approach is expected to significantly improve output and overall project margins.
Adding to the flowsheet economics, Orivium engineers have developed a “capital light” plant design. This modular, electro-leaching system has the potential to materially reduce upfront capital requirements compared to the original project scope, covering just Cangai’s stockpiles and waste dumps.
The expanded partnership is a significant step forward for Infiniti. By incorporating e- waste alongside metals-based recovery, we are enhancing the economics of our processing strategy while accessing a large and growing market.
By integrating e-waste streams into its existing ore-based recovery plans, Infinity appears to be carving out a potential pathway to near-term revenue generation. The company says site selection, permitting and lab validation are all well advanced.
The technical backbone of Orivium’s operation is its proprietary Super Oxidiser process. This next-generation tech looks set to support scalable, modular metals recovery plants that could be rolled out across multiple Australian projects.
Beyond simple extraction, the technology also offers potential applications for environmental cleanup, specifically targeting hazardous cadmium and arsenic waste.
Infinity is also taking the smart road on funding, chasing non-dilutive government grants to help bankroll the project while sparing shareholders from another round of dilution. With the company’s scope now expanding into e-waste recycling, this opens a completely fresh range of Australian grant opportunities.
While the Infiniti’s newly expanded project scope and current material lead times mean the original plant construction completion target of June 30, 2026, will be extended, the company says it’s not sitting idle. Advanced scoping studies have now kicked off to finalise the updated detailed plant design and operational planning.
Discussions are already underway regarding feedstock supply and potential offtake partners. Under the proposed agreement, profits from the processing operations will continue to be split 60/40 in favour of the feedstock supplier.
The savvy strategy has planted Infinity squarely where old-school mining meets the modern circular economy. By turning stranded mine waste and electronic scrap into a potential revenue stream, the company looks set to chase a faster, cleaner and cheaper path to metals production.
With a capital-light modular model and scoping studies now underway, punters will be watching closely to see if Infinity can lock in its first e-waste feedstock and turn a clever concept into cash flow.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au
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