EXCURSION •
Supplied Big Tree Copper ( Jennifer Barnard )
Operator moving a copper cathode sheet for transport .
will be the order of the day ,” says Hayes . She explains that a central mega-processing hub is to be established at Nababeep on an existing footprint with the construction of a 40 000t per month concentrate plant to treat high-grade and low-grade slag ore from the company ’ s mines in the region . “ The ore will be trucked in and brought to account yielding financial and social gains with no additional harm to the environment , as the hub already has existing infrastructure to build upon .”
Development of infrastructure will therefore not be required at Rietberg , with reference to tailings dams , buildings , rock piles etc . Instead , there will be no additional impact on the environment outside of the underground mining at Rietberg , which will be backfilled with any waste created during the mining process . “ This is probably a first for mining in South Africa , that is , the development of a mine without disturbing the environment .
Supplied Big Tree Copper ( Elria Maré )
“ We will produce approximately 400t of copper annually initially and will then ramp up to 15 000 tons of copper production within 3 years – if we add Carolusberg , this will increase to 20 000 tons per year within 3 years .” Next steps will be to develop SHiP ’ s Jubilee Wheal Julia open-pit complexes .
This growth and development will offer hope to the region in the form of future job opportunities . “ We expect to grow our employment opportunities from 160 to 500 over the next three years , offering hope to communities in the region .
“ Hope creates a brighter future , not only for the Northern Cape , but South Africa South Africa as whole in addressing its unemployment crisis , and all this while preserving the environment ,” concludes Hayes . •
L-R : Semi-skilled boiler maker , Dane Ruiter ; plant operator , Jason Joseph and semi-skilled boiler maker , Clifford Boyce posing from left to right for the photograph taken by Elria Maré , metallurgist manager of the electrowinning plant section .
We will be the only copper play in South Africa on the JSE .
References :
1 . https :// www . northerncape-info-directory . co . za / northern-cape / okiepnababeep-namaqualand /
2 . 25 January 2022 press release : Big Tree Copper leads a new generation of green economy industry
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African Mining • January 2023 • 45 |