Aurubis decided on the next project on the strategic agenda, an investment of €70 million in the construction of a energy-efficient bleed treatment facility at its Olen site. In a hydrometallurgical process, BOB will recover valuable metals such as nickel and copper contained in electrolyte streams that are generated in the tankhouses of the metal production at the Aurubis sites in Beerse and Olen (both in Belgium). The installation comprises a complete tankhouse purification system that is known as bleed treatment.

Aurubis expects an EBITDA contribution of about €15 million upon full operation of the new facility in fiscal year 2025/26. As a high-performance metal recycling site in the Aurubis smelter network, the plant in Olen processes, besides blister copper, up to 135,000 tons of multimetal recycling materials annually and produces copper cathodes via electro refinery as well as Aurubis Rod, Foxrod, and Bars and Profiles. The plant in Beerse processes more than 250,000 tons of complex recycling materials and operates a copper tankhouse.

BOB is an important addition to the Belgian production cluster to extract nickel and copper from material flows as well as to remove impurities from the bleed. In the Aurubis smelter network, there are three other bleed treatment facilities in Hamburg, Lünen (both in Germany), and Pirdop (Bulgaria). With the additional facility in Olen, Aurubis will optimize the Group-wide material flow even further and become more efficient.

Detailed engineering and approval processes for BOB are currently underway. The start of construction for the facility is planned for September 2022. Commissioning of BOB is planned for summer 2024.