A dimming copper dream suddenly burns bright

Friday, March 24, 2023 | 2020 Views |

Better days: BCL Mine’s smelter will likely be sold off piecemeal

As local copper production bounces back from the meltdown in 2016, the new players have been reluctant to venture into the smelting activities made famous by BCL Mine’s chimney fumes. However, a study due by December could produce a refinery, a value-added step beyond smelting, reports Staff Writer, MBONGENI MGUNI

Since the base metal meltdown of 2016, when a commodity price rout crashed operations at BCL Ltd, Discovery Metals and African Copper, the local copper sector has slowly and painfully pulled itself back up from the collapse.

As prices have picked up since, players such as Khoemacau Copper Mining and Premium Nickel Resources Botswana, located on the Kalahari Copperbelt and at the former BCL respectively, have led the base metal sector’s revival and are presently the most advanced projects.

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