On May 5, 2026, Canada’s Lumina Metals and Poland’s KGHM signed a letter of intent to discuss copper concentrate deliveries from the Nowa Sól project to the Głogów smelter. The distance between the mine and the smelter is just 25 kilometres – one of the shortest raw material supply chains in the world. The deposit, one of Europe’s largest undeveloped copper and silver resources, also contains rhenium, cobalt and vanadium. For KGHM, this is a chance to reduce costly imports and better use its processing capacity.
A letter of intent has been signed. Canadian Lumina Metals and Polish KGHM will start talks on the supply of copper concentrate from the Nowa Sól project to the smelters in Głogów. The distance between the mine and the smelter is about 25 kilometres.
Lumina Metals is a Canadian mining company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE). It has been operating in Poland since 2011 and is developing three copper-silver projects in the south-west of the country: Nowa Sól, Sulmierzyce and Mozów. The Nowa Sól project is considered one of the largest undeveloped copper and silver deposits in Europe. It is currently at the pre-feasibility study stage, which determines the economic viability of extraction. The next stage will be a feasibility study, followed by a construction decision.
Proximity to the Głogów smelter
The main argument for cooperation is location. The Głogów Copper Smelter, owned by KGHM, is about 25 kilometres from the planned Nowa Sól mine. It is one of the largest copper smelters in the world, with an annual processing capacity of around 550,000 tonnes of copper concentrate (data from KGHM’s 2025 annual report). Unlike many global mines, which must transport their raw material to seaports and then halfway around the world, Nowa Sól has a customer practically on its doorstep.
– We will produce copper concentrate that can go to the smelter in Głogów – just about 25 kilometres from the Nowa Sól project. That is a huge advantage. We don’t have to export the product over long distances – our customer is practically on site – said Jordan Pandoff, CEO of Lumina Metals, during the European Economic Congress in Katowice.
Transport and logistics
Copper concentrate – pulverised ore after preliminary enrichment (copper content rises from about 1-2 percent to 25-30 percent) – can be transported in three ways. By rail: a freight line exists from Nowa Sól to Głogów, currently used sporadically. By pipeline: the copper industry uses pipelines to transport concentrate as a water slurry. Such solutions exist, for example, in Chile (a 160‑km slurry pipeline from the Los Pelambres mine to the port of Coquimbo).
A distance of 25 km is technically feasible and cheaper than rail. By road: trucks – but this is the least efficient option due to fuel costs and emissions.
The company has announced it will choose the most efficient logistics solution. Annual planned extraction (still unspecified, but similar European deposits produce 2-5 million tonnes of ore per year) would generate from several hundred thousand to over a million tonnes of concentrate. Road transport on such a scale would mean up to 100 trucks per day.
Polish copper is renowned for its high content of accompanying elements. In ores from the Legnica-Głogów Copper Belt (LGOM), the average silver content is about 50-60 grams per tonne of ore, making KGHM one of the world’s largest silver producers (about 1,200 tonnes per year). According to preliminary studies by the Canadian company, the Nowa Sól project also contains rhenium (used in superalloys for jet engines), cobalt (for lithium-ion batteries) and vanadium (for alloy steels and flow batteries).
– Polish copper contains significant amounts of silver, as well as other metals such as rhenium, cobalt and vanadium. These elements will be recovered in the smelting process and will increase the value of the entire production chain – said Jordan Pandoff.
For KGHM, which already recovers silver, rhenium (the Głogów smelter has had a rhenium recovery plant since 2019) and cobalt (in the pilot phase), supplies of concentrate from Nowa Sól would mean additional volumes of these valuable additives. Rhenium reaches prices of USD 3,000‑4,000 per kilogram (average for 2025), and cobalt – USD 28 per kilogram.
The deposit and its size
Lumina did not disclose precise resource data for the Nowa Sól project in its 5 May 2026 stock exchange release. In previous reports (including one from 2023), the company estimated inferred resources at around 150-200 million tonnes of ore, with an average copper content of 1.3-1.5 percent and silver content of 45-55 grams per tonne. That would mean a potential copper content of 2-3 million tonnes and silver – 8,000-10,000 tonnes. For comparison, KGHM’s entire documented resources in Poland (Lubin, Polkowice-Sieroszowice, Rudna deposits) amount to about 35 million tonnes of copper. Nowa Sól is therefore a significant but not gigantic addition.
The project has been underway for 14 years. During this time, Lumina has gone through geological exploration (drilling in 2012-2018), economic analyses (pre-feasibility study completed in 2022, updated in 2025) and obtaining initial permits. Still missing before mining can begin are an environmental decision, a construction permit, a feasibility study and financing. The estimated cost of building an underground mine and a processing plant is PLN 1.5-2 billion.
Natural partner
In an interview with WNP during the European Economic Congress, Lumina CEO Jordan Pandoff called KGHM a “natural partner”. It is not only about geographical proximity but also about technological compatibility. Concentrate from Nowa Sól, coming from ores similar to those of LGOM (chalcocite and bornite minerals), should fit well with KGHM’s smelting technologies – the flash furnace in Głogów and the shaft furnace in Legnica.
KGHM already has a line for processing third‑party concentrates – currently it processes its own concentrate (about 70 percent) and imported raw materials from Chile, Peru and Canada (30 percent) – so additional supplies from Nowa Sól could replace some of the more expensive imports.
The letter of intent, signed on 5 May 2026, covers talks on volumes, quality (copper and silver content, harmful elements such as arsenic, lead, magnesium), metallurgical compatibility, logistics and transport. This is the first formal step – non‑binding but necessary.
Benefits for KGHM
For KGHM, cooperation means additional revenue from refining margins. In the copper industry, the business model of smelters often involves processing concentrates supplied by external mines, for which the smelter charges a fee (treatment and refining charges – TCRC). In 2025, average TCRC rates for copper concentrates were around USD 75 per tonne, but they rose in 2026 due to market tensions. For KGHM, which has excess processing capacity (the smelters can process more concentrate than the mines produce, although detailed data is not public), additional concentrate also means better utilisation of assets.
– The company is looking at the Canadians’ project because it could bring tangible benefits to KGHM – said Zbigniew Bryja, vice‑president of KGHM, during the European Economic Congress.
Not only Nowa Sól
Lumina is also developing the Sulmierzyce and Mozów projects. Sulmierzyce (near Krotoszyn) is a deposit of a similar nature but smaller resources. Mozów (near Zielona Góra) is at an earlier exploration stage. The letter of intent with KGHM concerns primarily Nowa Sól, which is the most advanced.
The Toronto stock exchange release explicitly states that the document is non‑binding and does not yet constitute a commercial agreement, supply guarantee, price determination or exclusivity for either party. The market reacted positively – Lumina Metals’ share price on the TSE rose 12 percent on 5 May 2026 (to CAD 1.45), reaching its highest level since 2023. KGHM is not listed in Toronto, but its shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange rose 2.1 percent.
Role in EU security
The Nowa Sól project fits into the European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act (which came into force in 2024). The Act stipulates that by 2030, at least 10 percent of the EU’s annual demand for critical raw materials (including copper, cobalt, vanadium) must come from extraction within the Union. Copper is not on the critical raw materials list in the latest 2025 update, but silver, cobalt and vanadium are. For Lumina, the project’s location in Poland – an EU member state – is an advantage when seeking funds from the European Investment Bank or the InvestEU programme.
– The letter of intent is an important step for strengthening the Polish metals sector and for implementing Lumina’s strategy of making the Nowa Sól project one of the pillars of copper and silver supply in Poland and the European Union – said Jordan Pandoff, CEO of Lumina Metals.
Further talks
Technical and commercial talks between KGHM and Lumina are to begin in the coming months. Key topics will include determining the optimal supply volume (probably from 200,000 to 500,000 tonnes of concentrate per year), setting the price (a formula based on LME copper prices, less transport and refining costs), and the delivery schedule – assuming the mine will start up no earlier than 2029-2030.
For Lumina, signing a letter of intent with a reputable customer increases the project’s credibility with banks and financial institutions. For KGHM, it is a way to diversify concentrate sources – in the event of disruptions to imports from Chile or Peru (which happened, for example, in 2025 due to protests at the Las Bambas mine), concentrate from Nowa Sól would be a more secure source.
KGHM did not answer WNP’s questions about the details of a potential agreement. In its press release, the company confined itself to a laconic confirmation of the letter of intent and an announcement of further analyses. For now, it is only talks. But the distance of 25 kilometres makes these talks with the potential to create one of the most logistically efficient mine‑smelter connections in Europe.
