A total of 90,000 pounds of copper cathode from the Cochise County operation were sold via an offtake deal with Trafigura Trading, which the miner first inked in March 2020.

Assays of the material at the mine confirmed a copper content of 99.998%, which is expected to meet 99.999% in all future harvests. Next up for Gunnison is to achieve its nameplate production rate, 25 million pounds per year, a goal it expects to reach later this year.

Chief executive and president Stephen Twyerould said sales will rise as the ramp up process continues.

"Our SX-EW processing facility has been on care and maintenance for several years; therefore, the initial high quality of the Gunnison project cathode is remarkable and reflects our commitment to achieving technical excellence throughout all aspects of our business," he added.

Excelsior wholly-owns the 9,560-acre Gunnison project, which is just southeast of Tuscon near the US-Mexico border. It has a mine life of 22 years and is projected to produce about 2.2 billion lbs of copper cathode.