Gunnison Copper Corp. announced that its Johnson Camp mine (JCM) in Cochise County, Arizona, achieved commercial production in September 2026, following record monthly copper production in August and continued production above the required operating threshold through the first half of September.
Johnson Camp produced 1,304,448 lb of copper cathode in August 2026, representing the highest monthly production since operations restarted. Production continued at strong levels in September, with 894,767 lb of copper cathode produced through September 17, 2026. The sustained operating performance achieved during September supports the company’s determination that Johnson Camp has achieved commercial production. Johnson Camp has a nameplate production capacity of up to 25 million lb/y of copper cathode, which the company is ramping up to.
“Achieving commercial production at Johnson Camp is an important milestone for Gunnison and reflects the tremendous effort of our team and our partners at Nuton. Following record production of more than 1.3 million lb of copper in August, the continued operating performance through September demonstrates the progress we have made in establishing sustained operations at Johnson Camp,” said Craig Hallworth, president and CEO of Gunnison. “More importantly, Johnson Camp is delivering on Gunnison’s mission to produce and reliably supply Pure American Copper from Southern Arizona. Our copper is mined and converted into finished copper cathode at site, providing domestically produced metal to support America’s defense, energy and technology supply chains.”
In related news, Gunnison also announced that it applied to amend the Mined Land Reclamation Plan (MLRP) for its flagship open-pit Gunnison project. The company said it expects the MLRP permit amendment to be approved before the end of 2026, following the applicable review process.
The MLRP amendment represents one of three principal state permit amendments required to advance the Gunnison project under its planned open-pit development configuration. The other two are amendments to the company’s existing Aquifer Protection Permit and Air Quality Permit, which have targeted submissions in the first quarter of 2027 and mid-2027, respectively.
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