GAZETTE REPOTER
The Index of Botswana’s mining production stood at 88.9 during the second quarter of 2022, showing a year-on-year growth of 3.8 percent, from 85.6 registered in the second quarter of 2021, a recent report by Statistics Botswana shows.
According to the report titled Index of the Physical Volume of Mining Production Second Quarter 2022, the main contributor to the increase in mining production was copper in concentrates, contributing 7.6 percentage points.
“Copper in Concentrates produced during the second quarter of 2022 was 8, 324 tonnes,” reads the report by Statistics Botswana. “The quarter on-quarter analysis shows that production increased by 45.9 percent (2,618 tonnes) during the second quarter of 2022 compared with 5, 706 tonnes produced during the first quarter of 2022. The strong demand for the commodity (copper in concentrates) in the international market coupled with rising prices led to the increased output from the newly commissioned mining operations.”
As such the government statistics agency says diamond production decreased by 4.3 percent (251 thousand carats) from 5, 827 thousand carats during the second quarter of 2021 to 5, 576 thousand carats during the period under review. “Similarly, quarter-on-quarter analysis shows that production decreased by 11.5 percent (723 thousand carats) during the second quarter of 2022 compared with 6, 299 thousand carats recorded during the first quarter of 2022,” the report shows. “The decline was occasioned by the processing of lower grade ore at the key mines.”
Gold production on the other hand decreased by 19.2 percent (36 kilograms), from 186 kilograms extracted during the second quarter of 2021 to 150 kilograms during the second quarter of 2022. “The quarter-on-quarter analysis reflects an increase of 23.0 percent (28 kilograms) from 122 kilograms during the first quarter of 2022,” says Statistics Botswana in the report.
Soda Ash production increased by 6.4 percent (3, 685 tonnes) from 57, 962 tonnes during the second quarter of 2021 to 61, 647 tonnes produced during the period under review with salt production decreased by 46.8 percent (47, 652 tonnes), from 101, 776 tonnes during the second quarter of 2021 to 54,124 tonnes during the quarter under review. Silver production recorded 7, 595 kilograms during the second quarter of 2022.
Meanwhile, the report by Statistics Botswana shows that Coal production increased by 23.4 percent (113, 832 tonnes), from 485, 642 tonnes during the second quarter of 2021, to 599, 474 tonnes in the current quarter. Copper-Nickel-Cobalt Matte, recorded zero production during the period under review as the affected mines are still undergoing provisional liquidation.