Ngamiland East: Where copper is king
Share Article
Ngamiland East: Where copper is king
During the 2022 WhyAfrica Road Trip we paid a visit to the Khoemacau mine in Botswana.
By Leon Louw founder of WhyAfrica and Endorphin Expeditions and editor of the WhyAfrica magazine
During the 2022 WhyAfrica Road Trip through Africa we visited a number of early-stage exploration projects and mining operations on the Kalahari Copper Belt in Botswana (KCB) and Namibia.
One of the highlights of that leg of our overland trip was a fantastic site visit to the Khoemacau mine which was then owned by Cupric Canyon Capital.
A year or so after our visit, in November 2023, MMG Limited, a subsidiary of China Minmetals Corporation, bought Khoemacau for more than USD1.875-billion from Cupric. The acquisition was completed in March 2024.
WhyAfrica spent a full day on site at Khoemacau to find out more about the first large- scale underground and fully mechanised copper mine in north-west Ngamiland and Southern Africa, and to focus on methods and equipment used in the processing plant and in bulk material handling.
The Boseto processing plant
The Boseto processing plant and infrastructure was initially developed by Discovery Metals and bought by Khoemacau in 2015. The plant is about 35km from Khoemacau’s Zone 5 underground mine.
Australian contractor Barminco was at that stage using automated drill rigs, roof bolters, loaders, and haul trucks to carry out underground operations.
We entered the Tlou Portal at the Central Mine and ventured 250 to 300m beneath Kalahari Sand.
Interesting haul methods used
Yesterday I had a look again at my scribbled notes. On page 5 I wrote:
“Unitrans Botswana hauls ore from Zone 5 to the Boseto processing plant with 140-tonne road trains and tippers. Road trains travel on a bitumen haul road. This haulage system efficiently moves the mined ore from the underground operations to the processing facility.”
While we stood at the crusher, I took a short video of the road train in action. We posted the video on the WhyAfrica YouTube channel and a week later it had +20 000 hits. Today the video has been viewed more than 47 000 times.
You can look at the video by clicking on the link below or visiting WhyAfrica’s YouTube channel (@whyafrica4709). Remember, as a partner, sponsor or member of WhyAfrica, your product can also make it onto the WhyAfrica story on YouTube. All you need to do is contact us.
To read the full article about the WhyAfrica visit to Khoemacau mine click on the link below or visit the WhyAfrica website, your one-stop-shop for on the ground information and business intelligence about Africa.
Ngamiland East: Where copper is king
