Modern Mining July 2018

COUNTRY FOCUS: BOTSWANA

Manager for Tshukudu Metals, were among the speakers at the recent Botswana Resource Sector Conference (BRSC) in Gaborone. They indicated that the T3 Feasibility Study would be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2019 with a development decision to follow shortly thereafter. Hanna said that with the ever-increasing scale of Tshukudu’s activities in the Kalahari Copperbelt, an accommodation village (Stage 1) was being built at Ghanzi (this was almost complete by the time of the BRSC), training programmes were underway to build the Tshukudu team and a permanent commu- nity relations office was operating full time in Ghanzi. He also said a substantial increase in employment was expected in 2019. Tau explained Tshukudu’s exploration strat- egy. He said the company was targeting domes as copper – and other sediment-hosted deposits – commonly occurred in these structures and noted that the company had enjoyed great suc- cess using airborne EM technology, which had led to the identification of seven large conduc- tive domes, several with similar characteristics to T3. He added that an exploration budget of 80 to 100 million Pula over 12 months had been approved and that an intensive exploration programme was currently underway. While the T3 mine will be a substantial operation, the Zone 5 underground mine of Khoemacau Copper Mining – located more than 100 km to the north-east of T3 – will be bigger still and will involve a capex which is cur- rently estimated at US$391 million, as Modern Mining explained in an article in last month’s issue. Its initial production will be 60 kt/a Cu and 2 Moz/a Ag. Early works are due to start in October this year with the full project release scheduled for Q1 2019 with the commence- ment of the boxcuts. Khoemacau Copper Mining is the Botswanan subsidiary of US-based Cupric Canyon Capital. Cupric acquired the Khoemacau property in 2013. In 2015 it purchased the neighbouring Boseto property, including a new 3 Mt/a con- centrator which was commissioned in 2012 by Australia’s Discovery Metals, and a Tailings Storage Facility (TSF). Discovery Metals moth- balled the Boseto mine in late 2014. Johannes Tsimako, Country Manager, Khoe­ macau Copper Mining, was also one of the speakers at the BRSC. He told the delegates that the first phase of development – the ‘Starter Project’ – would see the development of a 3,6 Mt/a mechanised underground mine at the Zone 5 deposit with the ore being trucked over a distance of 35 km (using 100-tonne trucks)

to the Boseto concentrator for treatment. The concentrator will be upgraded to a capac- ity of 3,6 Mt/a to enable it to process all the ore produced by the Starter Project. Expected recoveries are 87,8 % (Cu) and plus 86 % (Ag). The new mine – which will consist of three separate boxcuts and spiral decline systems, each able to produce 1,2 Mt/a – will use the sub-level open-stoping method with a planned conversion to backfill in the future. The ore- body to be exploited dips approximately 60 deg south-west with an average thickness of 10 m. Mineable sulphides start at 100 m below surface. Tsimako noted that considerable progress had been made on the project over the past year, with a new project leadership and exe- cution team in place, Fluor appointed as the EPCM for the FEED phase, and the project sub- stantially derisked. Resources available to the project (including Zone 5 North which was discovered in 2016 and the Zeta NE deposit) total 185 Mt at 2 % Cu

Layout of the Zone 5 underground mine, which will have 3 x 1,2 Mt/a declines.

Inspecting core at the T3 site (photo: MOD Resources).

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July 2018  MODERN MINING  37