PRODUCTION SLUMP At the height of the copper boom in 2013, Chibuluma produced 18 000 t/y of copper, with its output currently down to 10 000 t/y
Base metals mining company Metorex’s Chibuluma mine accounts for less than 2% of Zambia’s annual copper production, yet it is one of the country’s most successful mines in terms of safety, productivity and profitability, says the company.
Chibuluma is a highly mechanised underground mine and produced 13 300 t of copper in 2015 – a fraction of the country’s output of 711 000 t.
Located on the Copperbelt outside Kalulushi, about 22 km from Kitwe, Chibuluma has had one fatality in eight years. Since 2007, to date, the mine has paid $112-million in corporate tax.
Metorex says that the Chibuluma mine’s copper output per employee is 50% higher than the Zambian industry average, while its flagship Chibuluma South project was profitable barely two years after production, which is unusual for the industry.
“We mine one of the highest-grade copper deposits on the Copperbelt. That means we do proportionately less work to produce the same amount of copper,” says Chibuluma chief geologist Narendra Shekhawat.
Although the orebody is not very big, it has an average copper grade of 3%. Large openpit mines in Zambia, such as Barrick Gold’s Lumwana or base metals miner First Quantum Minerals’ new Sentinel mine, where the grade is barely 0.5%, need to mine and treat colossal quantities of ore, at a considerable cost, to extract copper.
Shekhawat says Chibuluma’s smaller operation means not only lower costs but also a simpler work setup – problems are easier to spot and fix, approvals happen faster and turnaround times are shorter.
However, the mine has not escaped the effects of the current mining downturn and embarked on major cost-cutting and scaling back of production.
At the height of the copper boom in 2013, Chibuluma produced 18 000 t/y of copper, with its output currently down to 10 000 t/y.
Shekhawat explains that the biggest challenge is that the mine’s mineral deposit will be mined out within the next few years.
Meanwhile, Chibuluma head of finance Eustus Munsaka says, unless the mine’s ongoing exploration finds a new copper deposit worth exploiting soon, Chibuluma will probably face closure sometime between 2020 and 2022.
“All mines have a natural life span and we are about to reach the end of ours,” he adds.
A $4.4-million rehabilitation programme is under way to restore the mined landscape at Chibuluma to its original state.
While closure is a few years off, Chibuluma has developed an “enviable” record in its contribution to Zambia since it was privatised in 1998, highlights Munsaka. The mine has paid taxes to government, uplifted the community through its corporate social responsibility programme and stimulated the local economy and job creation through the spending power of its employees.