Production now at 3.65m tonnes a year
GAZETTE REPORTER
Khoemacau Copper Mine ramped up its mining and processing operations at its mine in the Kalahari Copper Belt to 3.65 million tonnes a year in December 2022, the company has announced.
Khoemacau, which is subsidiary of Cupric Canyon, is tipped to revive Botswana’s copper industry after the demise of one of southern Africa’s prolific and oldest copper and nickel operations, BCL Mine, in October 2016.
BCL was liquidated following a fall in international commodity prices fall and alleged poor investment decisions by management.
The announcement about ramping up to full production at Khoemacau was made by the Chief Executive Officer of Khoemacau Copper Mining and Cupric Canyon Capital Group, Johan Ferreira, in a recent statement.
“We are delighted and extremely proud to have ramped-up to full production during December 2022, with mining and processing operations continuing to operate at nameplate throughout January 2023,” Ferreira said.
Extraordinary team
“All key operating and cost parameters are in line with expectations. This is an incredible achievement given the inflationary environment we have been operating in.”
Ferreira attributed “this important milestone” to extraordinary efforts of the Khoemacau team, business partners and in-country stakeholders, saying they jointly stewarded construction and successful commissioning of the mine on time and on budget against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This announcement follows its previous others regarding completion of construction and commissioning activities on 16 February 2022 and production of first copper silver concentrate on 30 June 2021.
Khoemacau, which specialises in copper/silver mining and processing, is owned by two private equity management firms that are holding funds on behalf of investors.