Modern Mining November 2017

MINING News

View of the Gamsberg site. Note the access road up to the mining area (photo: Vedanta Zinc International).

Gamsberg project on track for mid-2018 start-up

In its interim results for the six months ended 30 September, London-listed Vedanta Resources says that its Gamsberg zinc project in South Africa – being under- taken by Vedanta Zinc International – is on track to commence production in mid-2018. According to Vedanta, pre-stripping as

part of open-pit mine development is pro- gressing to plan. Says the company: “We achieved the full ramp-up to pre-stripping mining volumes of 3,5 million tonnes per month in Q1 and have continued at that rate since. To date, we have excavated over 50 % of waste rock of the total pre-strip- ping requirement. Construction works for

the concentrator and other infrastructure are progressing well with all contractors fully mobilised to site.” Bulk civil works related to mills and crusher foundations are on track. Water and power infrastructure installation is also progressing on schedule with more than 50 % of the work completed. Manufacturing and supply of all equip- ment is on schedule with mills expected to be at site this month (November). The first phase of the project is expected to have a mine life of 13 years, replacing the production lost by the clo- sure of the Lisheen mine in Northern Ireland. Once commissioned, it is expected that the mine will take 9-12 months to ramp up to full production capacity of 250 000 t/a of zinc-in-concentrate. Cost of production is estimated at US$1 000 to US$1 150 per tonne. Gamsberg forms part of the Black Mountain Mining (BMM) operations and is located about 30 km from the BMM base at Aggeneys in Northern Cape Province. Discovered more than 40 years ago and held undeveloped in the asset portfo- lios of various mining companies, it was acquired from Anglo American by the

Concentrator civil works in progress (photo: Vedanta Zinc International).

4  MODERN MINING  November 2017