In electroless copper plating ("full build"), there is the catalytic phase
involving palladium, but then the autocatalytic phase takes over whereby
copper plates to copper.

It has been a while since I have been able to observe this type of plating
directly, but I suspect surface area of the exposed materials is playing a
role. If we assume that some copper metal will precipitate in the fibres,
the autocatalytic activity will be invoked.

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