Motheo copper project tracking to plan – Sandfire
Construction of the Motheo copper mine, in Botswana, is continuing on time, with construction costs only slightly higher than anticipated.
Speaking at the first day of Paydirt’s Africa Downunder conference, in Perth, Sandfire Resources MD and CEO Karl Simich said that construction costs for the first stage of the operation had only increased by around 10%, which Simich said was “relatively insignificant in the environment that we’re in”.
The 3.2-million-tonne-a-year Motheo copper project is expected to deliver its first production in the June quarter of next year, and Simich noted that construction activities were well advanced, with over 1 700 personnel on site.
Sandfire late last month unveiled the results of a definitive feasibility study (DFS) to expand Motheo, while the project was still in construction. The company has taken the decision to increase production to 5.2-million tonnes, allowing for peak production to reach 55 000 t/y of copper in concentrate.
The DFS estimated a total development capital of $397-million for the expanded case at Motheo, which includes the development cost of the A4 openpit and the 5.2-million-tonne-a-year plant expansion of $47.9-million.
The expanded project, which will see mining at both the T3 and A4 deposits, has a projected pretax net present value of $548-million and an internal rate of return of 29%, using a copper price of $3.57/lb and a silver price of $20/oz.
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
Feedback
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation















