Advancing the Minerals Industry Through Collaboration: Capstone Copper and Promet101

Capstone Copper Corp. is a Vancouver-based Canadian mining company focused on copper production across the Americas. It was created in March 2022 through the merger of Capstone Mining and Mantos Copper, combining their assets and operations into a larger, diversified copper producer and has grown into a notable mid-tier copper producer with operations in Chile, Mexico, and the United States.

In 2024, the company produced roughly 184,000 tonnes of copper and Capstone is working toward becoming a 400,000 tonne annual copper producer over the next few years through organic growth and expansions.

Capstone emphasises responsible and sustainable mining, aiming to positively impact its employees, communities, and environments around its operations. Its sustainability reporting highlights efforts in responsible business practices and community engagement.

Peter Amelunxen joined Capstone in April 2022 as Vice President, Technical Services and was promoted to Senior Vice President, Technical Services in August 2023. Peter was the first recipient of the MEI Young Person's Award back in 2011 and in 2024 he received one of the SME's highest honours, the Antoine Gaudin Award.

Capstone was a sponsor of Flotation '25 and at the conference we were very pleased to hear from Peter that the company had agreed to sponsor not only Flotation '27 but also all 2026 conferences and Comminution '27.

Peter Amelunxen with MEI's Jon

Peter said: "In a world of rapidly rising demand for raw materials, we can’t rely solely on mining our legacy, high grade ore bodies. The next generation of successful mining companies are going to be those that embrace technology and innovation in a way that is measured, reliable, and prudent. Capstone Copper intends to be one of them, and that’s why we sponsor MEI Conferences. This conference series brings together the world’s most experienced and respected technical experts and puts them in a setting where they can freely share ideas, talk about their problems, and discuss solutions. Compared with other conferences, the signal to noise is extremely high, and I have never attended an MEI conference without having learned something brand new (to me), hired a rock star, or come away with a great new idea for our business. Sponsoring MEI is not just our way of saying thanks; it’s also a good Corporate Social Responsibility practice and excellent return on investment".

Promet101 has also become a strong supporter, and has agreed to sponsor all 2026 MEI Conferences, and AI in Mineral Processing '27 and Flotation '27 in the following year. Founded by CEO Stuart Saich, Promet 101 is an international company, headquartered in Australia, with offices in Canada and Chile, whose objectives are to provide sound solutions to clients' requirements and ensure that a well-documented path from ore definition, metallurgical testing programs through to process design criteria is provided for subsequent scrutiny by third parties such as engineering entities engaged to complete detail designs or peer reviews for project financing.

Stuart Saich with MEI's Jon

In 2023 Stuart said "So why does a small company like ours continue to support MEI through good and tough times. Well if you think carefully about it, how much effort is put into developing a technical paper. 100 or 200 hours per paper? Then what about the costs involved? By supporting MEI you are supporting a platform for the advancement of our own industry by willing individuals to advance the scientific knowledge of the very industry we belong to. What is the inherent intellectual value or investment into the knowledge base of each conference at which say 100 technical papers are presented? I would say $1-2 million a piece. And from that investment springs further value growth as ideas advance and commercialisation grows. Why do we invest in supporting MEI every year, because it makes absolute sense! It is not about me, it is about our industry!"

Many thanks Capstone and Promet101, we greatly appreciate your ongoing support.

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