Sandfire plans to start production in Botswana's copper belt by 2022
Australia’s Sandfire Resources said on Monday that it plans to start commercial copper and silver mining in the Kalahari copper belt in Botswana by 2022, and the country is working to curb its dependence on diamond mining.
Origin:https://www.sandfire.com.au/
The Kalahari copper belt extends from northeastern Botswana to western Namibia and is nearly 1,000 kilometers long. It is known as one of the most undeveloped copper and silver deposits in the world.
Analysts say this may help Botswana diversify beyond its main diamond mining, which accounts for 70% of its export revenue, and make the southern African country overly dependent on one commodity, especially during COVID-19 The flu pandemic has already weakened the demand for diamonds.
"We are very excited about the project and the great potential of the Kalahari Copper Belt to become the next global copper mining province," CEO Karl Simich said in a telephone interview with Reuters.
He said: "Our goal is to start production in 2022, and then start to expand production capacity to 5.3 million tons per year."
Simich said that after the board of directors approved a development investment of US$259 million, the first phase of 3.2 million tons/year will begin next year.
The Sandfire mine, called the T3 Motheo project, will be the second copper mining project after Cupric Canyon, a US private equity investment company. Cupric Canyon has stated that it will start producing 3.6 million tons of Khoemacau mine in mid-2021.
Simich said that during the first 10 years of operation, the mine will produce approximately 30,000 tons of copper and 1.2 million ounces of silver each year.
Origin: https://www.sandfire.com.au/
Related: Kalahari Copper Belt Introduction
The Kalahari Copper Belt is one of the world’s most exciting emerging copper producing regions, with Sandfire’s T3 Project and Curpric Canyon’s Khoemacau Copper Project both scheduled to deliver first copper production over the next 2-3 years.
The Kalahari landholding is prospective for sedimentary-style copper deposits, and includes several high-priority targets located in close proximity to the advanced T3 Copper-Silver Project, as well as regional targets with confirmed copper mineralisation.
A comprehensive exploration program across all project areas is currently underway as part of a major new district-scale program. A substantial increase in drilling is initially planned within the 1,000km2 T3 Expansion Area targeting additional ore sources for the planned Motheo Production Hub. Drilling priorities include the A1, T2E, A27, A13 prospects, and the deeper NPF Contact.
The significant potential of the Kalahari Copper Belt is evidenced by Cupric Canyon’s world-class Khoemacau Project, located east of the T3 Project, where a total property sulphide resource of 502Mt @ 1.4% Cu and 17g/t Ag, including 185Mt @ 2.0% Cu and 27g/t Ag has been announced by Cupric Canyon
