Capricorn Copper has celebrated its first shipment of about 11,800 wet metric tonnes of copper concentrate through the Port of Townsville.

The operation, 125km north of Mount Isa, is expected to export its next shipment towards the end of March.

Capricorn Copper managing director Carl Hallion said the development of a logistics chain for concentrate with South 32 Cannington gave Capricorn Copper access to world-class facilities and capabilities, and was an example of Capricorn Copper’s strong focus on supporting the north-west Queensland region.

Mr Hallion said the first sale reflected the quality of the work carried out by the Capricorn Copper team.

The company expects to produce about 30,000 tonnes per year of copper in concentrate reflecting about $2.75 billion export value over an initial mine life of 10 years at current copper prices

Based at the former Mount Gordon mine, Capricorn Copper has come online after its board approved the $110 million capital program to commence a refurbishment and restart project in November 2016.

The refurbished plant was commissioned in late 2017, with ramp-up to steady state of annual copper production of 30,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate on track for early 2018.