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January 2017
MODERN MINING
57
ZINC
Mining operations at
Gamsberg. The haulers
seen are BELAZ 130-t
electric trucks operated
by Roux Mining.
mining methods and the resource is sufficient to
support mining for many years. We’re going to
undertake development in phases, with Phase 1
– which will only exploit a quarter of the entire
resource – being an operation processing 4 Mt/a
of ore to produce 250 kt/a of metal in concen-
trate over a mine life of 12,5 years.”
An interesting point is why Anglo
never went ahead with the development of
Gamsberg. Says Naidoo: “Anglo contemplated
a very large scale, almost megapit-sized,
10 Mt/a operation with a refinery also being
part of the development plan. This would
have involved a very high capex in one go.
Our approach is to tackle the project in
more manageable steps. We looked at 2,
4 and 6 Mt/a options before settling on
the intermediate figure of 4 Mt/a.
“Another factor that makes this project
so suitable for us is that we are integrat-
ing the refinery at our Skorpion mine in
southern Namibia into the development
plan. At least a portion of Gamsberg’s
concentrate will be trucked to the
Skorpion refinery, which can handle
the high manganese fraction. Of course,
we will have to upgrade the Skorpion
facility, originally designed for oxide
concentrates, to allow it to treat the sul-
phides from Gamsberg and this involves
a capex of US$152 million. Skorpion was
due to close as a result of the ore reserves
being exhausted but Gamsberg gives it a
considerable extension of life.”
Phase 2 of Gamsberg, which is mainly con-
ceptual at this stage, would take capacity up to
10 Mt/a and would cost between US$300 and
US$350 million. It could include a dedicated
refinery, in which case the total investment
could be in the region of US$800 to US$900
million.
Construction of Gamsberg is starting to look
like an inspired move on Vedanta’s part, given
how the zinc price is moving. Early in 2016 it
hit a five-year low of US$1 444/tonne but has
since recovered to more than US$2 600/tonne
(as of early December 2016). As Naidoo points
out, the long-term outlook for the metal is good
Quiver trees have been
relocated as part of
the Gamsberg project’s
commitment to the
biodiversity of the region.