Australian firm, Barminco, which has been providing mining services at Khoemacau since 2019, will exit the operation at the end of June, ending an 800 million Australian dollar (P7 billion) partnership.
Mark Norwell, the CEO of Perenti which majority owns Barminco, was quoted this week as saying the company’s returns from the Khoemacau contract were less than target. Norwell reportedly said Barminco must maintain its” commercial discipline to enable consistent returns through economic cycles”.
Barminco was initially awarded a five-year underground mining services contract Khoemacau in December 2019 at a value of 800 million dollars. Last year, the contract was temporarily extended to June 30, 2025 with about 240 million Australian dollars still left in value.
Barminco has said with the termination, all on-site equipment will be sold to Khoemacau Copper Mining, which will for now take over mining. Khoemacau is the largest of the country’s three copper mines. Last year Khoemacau produced a total of 39,228 tonnes of payable copper in concentrate as compared to 46,532 tonnes as at December 2023.
The Kalahari Copperbelt-based operation plans to expand output to 130,000 tonnes of copper and five million ounces of silver per year with additional investment estimated at $700 million over a period ending 2026.
