First production emerges from newest copper mine

Up and running: Motheo’s production will be exported primarily through Walvis Bay and sold on the global spot market where copper prices are currently climbing 
PIC: SANDFIRE.COM.AU
Up and running: Motheo’s production will be exported primarily through Walvis Bay and sold on the global spot market where copper prices are currently climbing PIC: SANDFIRE.COM.AU

Australian miner, Sandfire Resources, has produced the first copper concentrate at Motheo Mine, a P5.6 billion operation which is the Kalahari Copperbelt and the country’s newest mine.

Motheo joins Khoemacau as the only operating mines on the Kalahari Copperbelt, the 1,000-kilometre swathe running southwest to northeast, which is known to contain millions of tonnes of copper and silver resources, but whose heavy sands and poor infrastructure have restrained development over the decades.

Sandfire’s executive country head for Botswana, Dale Burgess told BusinessWeek the new mine was ramping up to an expected target of 20,000 tonnes this year.

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