On the flooded frontlines of Africa’s top copper projects
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On the flooded frontlines of Africa’s top copper projects
Water ingress, dewatering and submersible pumps is WhyAfrica’s focus this week.
By Leon Louw founder of WhyAfrica and editor of the WhyAfrica magazine.
Underground water ingress, dewatering and submersible pumps are in the spotlight this week as two copper projects in Africa continue their battle against water.
The good news is that Orion Minerals seems to be winning the water battle at its flagship Prieska Copper Zinc Mine (PCZM) in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.
The bad news is that water inflow at Ivanhoe’s Kamoa-Kakula copper project in the DRC has become a real concern following a seismic event during which rockfalls damaged underground pumping infrastructure.
This resulted in Ivanhoe temporarily halting operations at the mine.
Historic water battles in the DRC
Kamoa-Kakula experienced significant water inflow before. According to Ivanhoe a north-south, water-bearing structure was intersected at the Kakula Mine’s northern perimeter drift in 2021.
This led to localised flooding in surrounding workings. The mine’s average dewatering rate peaked at approximately 1,300 litres per second (l/s) during this period.
Back at Prieska in South Africa
Back in South Africa, underground water has presented a significant challenge to Orion Minerals’ efforts to restart the Prieska project.
Last week, Orion’s MD and CEO Tony Lennox said that the mine is making progress with the next stage of its development strategy, including dewatering and advancing project financing. PCZM has a mineral resource of 31.0Mt at an average grade of 1.2% copper and 3.6% zinc.
Looking at dewatering infrastructure
The Prieska underground mine was one of 15 mining operations WhyAfrica visited during the 2022 WhyAfrica Road Trip through Africa.
Back then we reported that the shaft infrastructure at Prieska is still in top condition, despite being submerged since the mid-1990’s.
In 2022 the extensive underground workings at Prieska held approximately nine million cubic metres of water, which accumulated since the mine was closed by Anglovaal in 1991.
During our visit, the dewatering set-up consisted of pump sets and reticulation that could extract mine water from underground workings at a pumping rate that could build up from 120m3/hr to 500m3/hr.
Let’s hope Ivanhoe makes good progress in the DRC. In a press release the mine stated that it is actively working to repair the affected infrastructure and restore full pumping capacity. The mine’s dewatering system is crucial for maintaining safe working conditions and to prevent further flooding.
The 2025 WhyAfrica Road Trip
To read more about battles on the ground and in the frontline, submersible pumps, underground mining in Africa and the upcoming WhyAfrica Road Trip, visit the WhyAfrica website.
We will venture underground on a few occasions during this year’s WhyAfrica Road Trip, so if you have solutions and want to become part of the 2025 WhyAfrica Road Trip story, give us a call.
Image: Getting ready to venture underground at Prieska in 2022. Image credit: Leon Louw for WhyAfrica.
On the flooded frontlines of Africa’s top copper projects
