The plant was put on care and maintenance in 2014 after operating for more than a decade.

R3D Resources managing director Stephen Bartrop said first commercial operations at Tartana had been successful.

"Buoyed by this initial success, we are confident in our ability to ramp up production to 8tpd later this year, once we secure additional process technicians to support a 24/7 operation basis," he said.

"We affirm our expectation of being cash flow positive on an operational basis for FY2024's first quarter."

Bartrop said the company had the support of offtake partner Kanins, which had also committed to offering payment on production through the initial period.

"Our immediate focus is to ramp up production into 24-7 operation and ensure our product quality to enable us to achieve the highest possible premium for our product," he said.

Copper sulphate contains about 25% of copper and can fetch a premium of between $100-$500 per tonne, depending on its quality.

Bartrop said Tartana's copper sulphate product was good enough to warrant a premium at the upper end of that scale.