After almost 8 years of development and putting in some work to resuscitate some of the old assets previously owned by Discovery Metals, Khoemacau Copper a subsidiary of Cupric Canyon Capital has finally reached commercial stage of the project, concentrate is been produced at its Boseto processing plant.
President Mokgweetsi Masisi will very soon fly to Toteng near Maun to officiate at the official commissioning of Khoemacau Commercial Production, this was revealed by Minister of Mineral Resources Green Technology & Energy Security Lefoko Moagi in press briefing last Monday.
In 2019 President officiated at the ground breaking ceremony to kick start multi billion pula projects that saw development of a world-class mechanised underground mine , upgrade of the old Boseto Process facility, building of roads that connects the mine and the plant with hundreds of jobs created for local communities.
Khoemacau announced early this month that the production of first concentrate was achieved safely, within schedule, and the overall project remains within 3% of the original budget, the company acclaims.
The first shipment of concentrate is scheduled for this month. Since the underground development of Khoemacau’s Zone 5 Mine began in early 2020, more than 350,000t of high-grade sulphide ore has been stockpiled on surface and is available to feed the facility.
The ore is transported 35km from the mechanised Zone 5 underground mine to the processing facility via a sealed haul road.The company expects to ramp up to full production throughout the rest of this year.
The project has the capacity to produce 155,000t to 165,000t of high-grade copper and silver concentrate a year, containing about 60,000t to 65,000t of payable copper and 1.8 million to 2 million ounces of payable silver.
The company expects to achieve this production rate in 2022.“We are delighted to have reached this important milestone safely, on schedule and substantially within budget, thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the Khoemacau team and our business partners” Khoemacau announced early this month.
This is particularly remarkable against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic over the last 16 months,” CEO, Johan Ferreira acclaims.Botswana Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security Minister, Lefoko Moagi enthuses that, through foreign direct investment, Khoemacau will strengthen Botswana’s mining industry.
“The Khoemacau starter project coming on stream shall unlock the potential of the Kalahari copper belt and stimulate confidence in Botswana’s mining industry for both greenfield and brownfield projects,” he says
