  We investigate the feasibility of robust abundances for selected
neutron-capture elements (Ge, Bi, Hf, U) from near-UV spectroscopy with the
CUBES instrument now in development for the Very Large Telescope. We use the
CUBES end-to-end simulator to synthesise observations of the Ge I 3039 {\AA}
and Hf II 3400 and 3719 {\AA} lines in a very metal-poor star, using the
well-studied star CS 31082-001 as a template. From simulated 4 hr exposures, we
recover estimated abundances to $\pm$0.1 dex for Ge for U $\sim$ 14.25 mag.,
and for Hf for U = 18 mag. These performances neatly highlight the powerful
gain of CUBES for near-UV observations of targets that are two-to-three
magnitudes fainter than the existing observations of CS 31082-001 (U = 12.5
mag.). We also investigate the weak Bi I 3025 {\AA} and U II 3860 {\AA} lines
(for U $\sim$ 14.25 and 16mag., respectively), finding that simulated 4hr
exposures should provide upper limits to these observationally challenging
lines.
