MTE EXHIBITIONS • of law . “ It is a new dawn ,” he said . These commitments address the ease of doing business in Zambia , covering areas such as expediting immigration procedures in exchange for commitments for local employment levels , competitive pricing of power transmission and power procurement from independent sources , which in turn was to support renewable energy projects , and measures to ensure the ease of importing and exporting goods .
The government promised that its dealings would be “ transparent , consistent , predictable , fair , and based on an intolerance to corruption ” - per Hichilema ’ s speech at the Investing in African Mining Indaba in May 2022 . He reiterated there too that the government is committed to delivering on domestic economic empowerment and job creation without resource nationalism , noting this is essential to ensuring the sustainability of investments and a secure social license for operators .
Solwezi – activity bodes well for business The government ’ s commitment to improve the predictability of the mining fiscal regime also provided the certainty needed to support large capital investments in Zambia . A case in point , are two landmark investments by First Quantum Minerals involving USD1.25-billion to expand production and extend the life of the Kansanshi Mine and an additional USD100-million investment to bring online the USD250-million new Enterprise Nickel Mine .
Solwezi has seen the fruits of this ‘ New Dawn ’ in First Quantum ’ s S3 expansion at the Kansanshi mine and the Enterprise nickel project . Last year , Tristan Pascall , CEO First Quantum said , “ The company ’ s approval of the projects reflects First Quantum ’ s increased confidence in the investment climate in Zambia … The Kansanshi mine has been a cornerstone asset for First Quantum for 15 years and the S3 Expansion will expand production and extend the mine life for another two decades . The low-cost , high-grade Enterprise nickel project is well placed to supply the rapidly growing electric vehicle battery sector .”
S3 Expansion The S3 Expansion is expected to transition the current selective high-grade , medium-scale operation to a medium-grade , larger-scale mining operation that will be more appropriate for the higher proportion of primary , lower-grade sulphide ores at depth . As outlined in the NI 43-101 Technical Report filed in September 2020 , the S3 Expansion , when fully completed , will comprise of a standalone 25 million tonne per annum processing plant with a new larger mining fleet that will increase Kansanshi ’ s total annual throughput to 53Mtpa . Once the expansion is completed , copper production from Kansanshi is expected to average approximately 250 thousand tonnes per annum for the remaining life of mine to 2044 .
Supplied by C-Chip
An aerial shot of the MTE 2023 Kathu trade show that hosted 115 exhibitors and just under 500 visitors , while the Northern Cape expo-trilogy – with the company ’ s first-ever back-to-back shows without the customary day in between – saw 300 exhibitors deliver solutions to just under 1000 visitors .
The company has smashed some of its own records in its milestone 30th year in business .
In parallel with the expansion of the mine and processing facilities , the company plans to increase the throughput capacity of the Kansanshi smelter from 1.38 Mtpa to 1.65Mtpa of concentrate . This will enable the smelter to produce over 400Ktpa of copper anode .
The total capital expenditures associated with the S3 Expansion is expected to be USD1.25-billion , which includes USD900-million on the S3 plant and mine fleet and USD350-million for pre-stripping of the South East Dome pit . Approximately USD800-million of this spending was included in the company ’ s three-year guidance released on January 17 , 2022 – with the balance falling beyond the guidance period . First production from the S3 Expansion , at the time , is expected in 2025 .
Enterprise Nickel Project The Enterprise nickel sulphide deposit is located 12km northwest of the Sentinel copper mine . As outlined in the NI 43-101 Technical Report filed in March 2020 , proven and probable reserves at Enterprise total 34.7 million tonnes of ore at 0.99 % nickel .
www . africanmining . co . za African Mining Publication African Mining African Mining • September 2023 • 31