Modern Mining July 2019

COUNTRY FOCUS: BOTSWANA

testing indicated that a 95,4 % TGC concen- trate could be achieved from basic flotation and 99,85 % TGC from basic chemical purification. Scholtz, whose has a Masters degree in Geology from the University of the Free State and has worked all over Africa and also in China and South America, pointed out to Modern Mining that the project benefits from being in a country which is democratic and investor friendly with excellent infrastructure and which has consistently been rated as being the best mining destination in Africa. “What is really encouraging is the interest that the Department of Mines has shown. We’ve had personnel from the Department visiting the site and they’re extremely excited by the project – and, of course, very supportive,” he said. “By the end of this year we may well be into the study phase, starting with a Scoping Study. If we get all the results we expect and if

Core from diamond drilling undertaken in 2014.

all the stars align, we could be in production by 2021. If you look at other graph- ite projects in Africa, such as the Lindi Jumbo proj- ect in southern Tanzania which is being developed by Walkabout, it is clear that you can establish a very viable mining/processing operation at a very low capex – only US$28 million in the case of Lindi Jumbo. Tonota would probably target a very similar size of operation. It is still early days, of course, with a great deal of work still to be done but there is a very good chance that our proj- ect will become Botswana’s first graphite mine,” he concluded. Report by Arthur Tassell, photos courtesy of Tonota Resources

An RC drilling crew on site earlier this year (2019).

July 2019  MODERN MINING  37