Modern Mining July 2019

COUNTRY FOCUS: BOTSWANA

Daniel has been awarded the EPCM contract for the upgrade and related infrastructure, after having been appointed in 2017 to undertake concept and study work. Significant contracts still to be awarded are the 50 km long, 132 kV power supply to site, the explosives supply, the SMPP contract for the Boseto plant upgrade, the E&I services for both Boseto and Zone 5, and the road haulage between Zone 5 and Boseto. Describing the progress on site thus far, Ferreira says the project is on schedule. “Early works – the camp upgrade at Boseto and bush clearing for the access roads – kicked off in October last year followed by the start of con- struction on the access roads in December 2018 and site establishment for the boxcuts in January this year. Already we have around 700 people on site but this figure will more than double once construction peaks,” he says. Although the Khoemacau project is in a water scarce area, adequate water supply has been secured, with the existing Boseto and Haka wellfields being supplemented by mine dewatering holes at Zone 5. A 40 km pipeline will be built to convey water from the Haka wellfield to the Zone 5 site. While the focus of Cupric is currently on getting the Starter Project up and running, the company is planning a DFS (a PFS was com- pleted in 2015) on the first phase of expansion, which will see a new standalone plant being constructed at Zone 5, bringing the total pro- cessing capacity to 5,8 Mt/a. Copper and silver production will increase to approximately 100 kt/a and 3 Moz/a respectively. Beyond this, two further phases of expan- sion are contemplated which will take copper production first to 150 kt/a and, ultimately, to plus 180 kt/a. These expansions will require

development of the Zone 5 North and Zeta Northeast deposits (which between them have total inferred resources of 54 Mt grading 2,1 % Cu and 41 g/t Ag). In total, resources already identified on Cupric’s 4 000 km 2 land pack- age in the Kalahari Copperbelt (including the Banana Zone deposit 80 km to the south-west of Zone 5, which could support a standalone mine) are estimated at 500 Mt grading 1,4 % Cu and 17 g/t Ag – with huge scope for this figure to be increased through further exploration. Commenting on the timing of the expan- sions, Ferreira says that the first priority will be to establish the Starter Project as a profit- able, steady-state operation. “Once we’ve achieved that, we can look at implementing the first phase of expansion. We are flexible on timing but I would guess that work on the ground is probably no more than four or five years out assuming a favourable copper price,” he states. Finally, and on the subject of the benefits of the Khoemacau copper/silver project to Botswana, Ferreira says the impact – as detailed in a study by KPMG – will be substantial. “Over the 21-year life of the Starter Project, it will provide full-time employment for over 1 600 people,” he says. “In addition, it will generate royalties totalling US$263 million while tax revenues could amount to around US$93 mil- lion a year and export earnings to US$337 million a year. The contribution to Botswana’s GDP will likely exceed US$8 billion over the life of mine. In short, this is a transforma- tional project which will not only open up the Kalahari Copperbelt and establish it as an important copper mining province but also pro- vide a major boost to Botswana’s economy.” Report by Arthur Tassell, photos courtesy of Khoemacau Copper Mining

Long section through the Zone 5 mine.

Although the main driver of the project is copper, the silver output is by no means insignificant and will account for around 7 % of revenue.

July 2019  MODERN MINING  33