Limestone mine slated for June in Matsiloje

WANETSHA MOSINYI
Correspondent | Wednesday April 25, 2007 00:00

The new mine will use an existing plant in Matsiloje, 30 kilometres east of Francistown, bought by Nortex - MPC's parent company - from an exposed bank.
'I have been waiting for the licence for the past nine months,' said Nortex Managing Director Mukesh Josh, whose company is better known for textiles.
'I am happy that we can now proceed with the first phase of the project. I am excited because it means work can start.'

It is projected that the mine will produce 300 tonnes per day with a workforce of 100 people. It has an estimated life of 15 years.
Workers were already clearing the site last week as the company advertised vacancies for geologists and engineers.

Josh said they would soon submit a master plan showing details of the plant and its expansion phases to the North East District Council. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EPA) has already been done. When the EIA was carried out, it was found that crushed waste from limestone, called aggregate, would have a negative impact on the environment; further research found that the aggregate could be used in construction.

In addition to the limestone mining plant, Nortex will build a cement mixing plant on site.
When the project comes on stream, Nortex will import a crushed limestone product called clinker from Zimbabwe to manufacture quicklime, some of which will be sold to Tati Nickel Mines for use in its Activox refinery that is scheduled for commissioning in due course. Tati Nickel Mines will in turn supply MPC with gypsum for use in the manufacturing of cement.

The first phase will involve the rehabilitation of the plant left behind when a company called KCI abandoned it. Nortex bought the plant in an auction sale from the National Development Bank (NDB).
South Africa placed an embargo late last year on the export of cement due to shortages of the commodity occasioned mainly by massive construction projects in preparation for the World Soccer Cup to be hosted by that country in 2010.

But Botswana is also undergoing a construction boom involving mainly government projects running into billions of pula following the mid-term review of NDP 9 last year. 
Josh said they wanted to position themselves to meet that demand, adding that Nortex had infact been influenced by this scenario to go into cement production.
'We saw a need to diversify from textiles,' he said. 'The limestone opportunity presented itself, and we took it.'