JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Mwana Africa’s 52.9%-owned subsidiary Bindura Nickel Corporation this week shipped the first ore out of the newly restarted Trojan nickel mine.
The Zimbabwe-based mine, which had been idled over the past four years, had trucked the first shipment of concentrate to Durban following the refurbishment of the surface milling, flotation, tailings and concentrate-handling facilities.
“The processing plant is now producing concentrate of saleable quantity and quality and the remainder of the commissioning activities during the year will focus on increasing throughput and improving recoveries,” Mwana CEO Kalaa Mpinga said.
The nickel mine was placed on care and maintenance in 2008 on the back of poor performing nickel prices, operational challenges, unfavourable exchange rates and periodic power outages, besides others.
It was restarted earlier this year after an injection of about $33-million and a four-month work programme.
The Trojan mine would initially produce concentrate, which commodities trader Glencore would buy under an offtake agreement entered into in February last year.
Glencore would buy all of the concentrate produced at the Trojan mine at a price linked to the London Metal Exchange settlement price.
“This marks a major milestone in our strategy to bring our nickel assets out of care and maintenance and back into production,” he concluded.