02 Oct 2018

 The Khoemacau copper mine will contribute significantly to the growth of the Ngamiland District economy.

Updating the district leadership   on progress of the project, the mine’s executive director, Mr Boikobo Paya said the project had a promising future, and that it had attracted interest from international companies who had injected funds into the project.

The mine, situated at Toteng, was owned by Boseto but the company failed to meet its production targets leading to the closure of the mine in 2015.

Mr Paya explained that plans were underway for the mine to to operate underground at its zone five site.

He added that they intended to kick-start the project at the zone five site as they had a state of the art plant in the area . “The Boseto facility will service the ‘starter’ project and the plant is suitable for treating the zone five ore,” he revealed.

The district leadership commended management for working round the clock to kick-start operations and called for cooperation to ensure the sustainability of the project. and that it benefits communities within its vicinity.

They also expressed hope that their communities would benefit from the mine. They called for a quota system for recruiting unskilled personnel from their villages

Khoemacau received its mining licence in March 2015 and the area covers not only zone five, but  another promising copper deposit 60 km south-west of zone five.

He noted that they had been silent on the issue for some time, but said they were mobilising resources to ensure everything was in place as they were operating a unique project as compared to other existing copper mines.

Mr Paya said they wanted the project to be operated economically and efficiently ijn order to reduce costs.

He informed the leaders that negotiations with Botswana Power Corporation were progressing and that they needed more power. Leaders also learnt that recruitment was progressing well. 

Mr Paya said the project would reduce unemployment, adding that they wanted to align the project to government initiatives such as the Economic Diversification Drive (EDD) and Local Empowerment Development (LED).

He said advertisements for skilled positions were recently placed on local newspapers.

He said they intended to open three cuts and go underground, adding that they expected to produce 60 000 tonnes of copper per annum. 

Mr Paya said the mine had significant growth potential and that in five to 10 10 years, they would increase production to 130 000 tonnes per annum. 

He noted that the Kgalagadi Copperbelt extended from the south-west of Maun through to Ghanzi and beyond.

Mr Paya also noted that demand for copper surpassed supply, adding “this is an interesting situation, and we are hopeful that we will have attractive prices.” ENDS