Copper and gold explorer Sandfire Resources has signed a sales deal with a private Swiss commodity trading company for product from its DeGrussa project in Western Australia.

The one-year contract with MRI Trading AG is for half of the direct shipping ore (DSO) to be produced at the project, up to a maximum of 75,000 dry metric tonnes.

The company has also started marketing discussions in relation to sales agreements for copper concentrate, which is a processed product.

The offtake deal with MRI starts in March and is the first to be sealed by Sandfire for the DeGrussa project, which is slated to begin production early next year.

Sandfire said talks to sell the remaining 50 per cent of DSO production were underway and it expected to announce further deals in the near future.

Shares in Sandfire were up 25 cents, or 3.91 per cent, at $6.65 at 1531 AEDT.