Modern Mining May 2019

COUNTRY FOCUS: BOTSWANA

cost of the Starter Project – which will incorporate the processing plant of the nearby but defunct Boseto mine – is US$397 million over a two-year construction timeline. The Starter Project will see the fully mech- anised underground mining of sulphide ores at Zone 5 at a rate of 3,6 Mt/a using the Boseto facility – which will be upgraded – for crushing, milling, flota- tion and production of a copper/silver concen-

trate. Three separate but adjacent underground mines will be developed at Zone 5, each pro- ducing 1,2 Mt/a on average for the first five years. Each of the mines will have its own independent ramp access and operate over a strike length of approximately 1 000 m, extracting ore using a conventional sub-level open stoping mining method.

Cupric Canyon Capital and its in-country sub- sidiary, Khoemacau Copper Mines. Earlier this year the companies announced that they had secured a ‘Project Funding Package’ which would allow them to start construction of the Khoemacau Starter Project processing ore from a 91 Mt resource at a head grade of 2,02 % cop- per and 21,4 g/t silver. The direct construction

Core shed at the Khoemacau project’s Zone 5 site. In all, 285 000 m of drilling have been completed for the project (photo: Arthur Tassell).

38  MODERN MINING  May 2019