26 May 2022

The re-opening of the BCL mine in Selebi Phikwe will take two to three years, says Premium Nickel Resources Botswana (PNRB) chief executive officer, Mr Montwedi Mphathi.

Addressing the ongoing Selebi Phikwe Town Council full meeting this week, Mr Mphathi said they were currently drilling to establish the size and character of the copper-nickel ore.

“Nobody knows how much is still left on the ground, therefore, the first task is to determine what is left,” he said.

PNRB was registered in 2019 as a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Canadian based Premium Nickel Resources Corporation. 

The company was registered with the sole objective of acquiring and redeveloping the former BCL and Tati Nickel assets.

Mr Mphathi said the assets took time to re-develop and that they would have to do a lot of drilling which would take two to three years.

He noted that the depth of their drilled holes were nearly 1.5km to enable them to understand the size and character of the ore.

He also informed councillors that their company had employed people to help with the care and maintenance of the mining assets in order to keep them in good condition.

“We also have to put processes that are environmentally friendly, including the use of electric vehicles underground, using less water and not polluting the environment, hence opening the mine will take some time, he said.

He said the new mine would use less water and electricity.

As producers of copper and nickel, Mr Mphathi said PNRB was compelled to be at par with its competitors, and that the competitive landscape meant using technology and fewer people for safety reasons.

 He also said they did not know the number of jobs that would be created. 

Dubbed the Tsholofelo project for the hope it carries for the people of Selebi Phikwe and the region, Mr Mphathi said PNRB intended to transform Selebi Phikwe into a town with a resilient economy that would be able to sustain itself after the closure of the mine.

He said they would not be using the same model as BCL and that they would not own houses because they wanted ‘the wealth to belong to the people.’

He noted that mine employees would need houses for rental and for purchase and that the beneficiaries would be ordinary house owners. 

He also noted that when BCL mine started there were no hospitals, schools and houses hence the mine needed to construct them in order to attract people to work in Selebi Phikwe.

“We would also like to collaborate with Selebi Phikwe Town Council and other stakeholders to ensure that we build a resilient economy," said Mr Mphathi. BOPA