Copper features prominently in this issue, with articles on both the T3 copper/silver project in the Kalahari Copperbelt of Botswana and the Kamoa/Kakula project of Ivanhoe and its partners in the DRC’s Lualaba Province. T3 could bring back copper mining to Botswana – the country has a long history of producing copper but currently has no active copper mines – while Kamoa-Kakula has the potential to become the world’s second biggest copper mining complex.
In our extensive News section, we summarise the latest results of Endeavour Mining, a company which has several gold mines in West Africa and which has built up a reputation as one of the most efficient mine-builders around, and also provide an update on the proposed Esaase extension to the Asanko gold mine in Ghana.
Comment: Will Namibia benefit from a better uranium price?
Uranium was one of the best performing commodities in 2018, with its price (admittedly coming off a very low base) showing a nice surge over the year. While the better price will obviously assist the two operating uranium mines in Namibia, it is unlikely to do much for the many uranium projects (and the two mothballed operations) waiting in the wings in the country. Read more …
Record tonnages at New Luika
The New Luika Gold Mine (NLGM) of Shanta Gold, the only operating mine in the Lupa goldfield of south-western Tanzania, performed extremely well in 2018, with a record 639 679 tonnes being put through the mill to produce 81 872 ounces of gold over the year, which was comfortably above guidance. Read more …
Flagship Volvo excavator carves out market share
Babcock, the Southern African dealer for Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE), has notched up good sales of the EC950E crawler excavator since it was launched locally in May 2017. Flagship of the Volvo CE crawler excavator range, the EC950E is perfectly matched to the company’s A60H articulated hauler, the largest machine of its type in the world, which is also proving popular with customers in the Southern African region. Read more …
T3 copper project nears a development decision
MOD Resources, the company which owns the T3 copper/silver project in Botswana’s Kalahari Copperbelt, is expecting to make a decision by mid-year on whether to take the project into development. A Feasibility Study on T3, which is examining an open-pit mining operation allied to a 3 Mt/a processing plant, is due for completion by the end of March this year. Under a best-case scenario, MOD envisages that T3 could be in production in late 2020 or early 2021. Read more …
Kamoa-Kakula could grow to an 18 Mt/a operation
The Kamoa-Kakula complex near Kolwezi in the DRC, which hosts one of the world’s greatest – and highest grade – copper resources could ultimately support a production rate of 18 Mt/a from several mines, resulting in a peak annual copper production of over 700 000 tonnes a year. The first mine being developed is Kakula, a 6 Mt/a underground operation. It could later be joined by Kansoko and Kakula West. The development of twin underground declines has already been completed at Kakula. Read more …
De Beers Group upbeat on its future in Africa
In his answers to a series of questions put to him by Modern Mining, De Beers Group CEO Bruce Cleaver expresses optimism on the Group’s future in Africa. He discusses the Group’s operations in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia and says De Beers views the continent as an excellent destination for exploration and mine development. Read more …
Positive mood pervades Mining Indaba 2019
Despite the severe problems facing South Africa’s mining industry, there was – in Modern Mining’s view – a buoyant mood prevailing at the recent Mining Indaba in Cape Town, with delegates responding very warmly to addresses by South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, and by the country’s Minister of Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe, both of whom are perceived as being sympathetic to the difficulties facing the mining sector. Read more …
