February 2011
Our lead story in this month's issue covers the US$380 million Konkola North project being developed by ARM and Vale in joint venture. The project - located near the town of Chililabombwe on the Zambian Copperbelt - involves the creation of a new underground mine with access being provided via a new decline shaft system supplemented by an old vertical shaft, originally sunk by Anglo American in the 1950s, which will be refurbished and re-equipped.
Readers interested in new developments on the Zambian Copperbelt should also study our ‘Mining News' pages where we report on First Quantum's newly approved Trident project (see page 6), which could ultimately produce a phenomenal 300 000 tonnes of copper a year, and Equinox's expansion plans for its giant Lumwana mine (see page 10), which could result in the operation more than doubling in size.
February, of course, is Mining Indaba month and this issue has coverage of the event, which this year attracted in the region of 6 000 delegates - the most ever in its 17-year history. As we report, the mood at the Indaba was very buoyant, reflecting what appears to be a new emerging African mining boom.
An exciting development in the diamond field is the restart of operations at Lesotho's Liqhobong mine. The mine was put on care and maintenance in late 2008 but has now been revived by its new owners, Firestone Diamonds. Firestone has ambitious plans for Liqhobong - which were outlined at a recent briefing in Cape Town - and is targeting an ore production of 4,2 Mt/a from Liqhobong's main pipe within several years, which will involve the design and construction of a new processing plant at a total cost of US$70 million.
In the article entitled Junior explorer targets phosphate in Cabinda, we look at new mining junior Minbos
Resources, which recently listed on the ASX and which has exploration properties not only in Cabinda in Angola but also across the border in the DRC. Minbos's principals include two well-known personalities in mining circles, Robbie McCrae and Dave Reeves.
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Contract miner adds Terex trucks to fleet
COMS, a mining contractor active in the Mpumalanga coalfields, has added 18 new Terex off-highway rigid dump trucks to its fleet to enable it to handle the demands of a major new contract it has secured at Umcebo Mining's Middelkraal colliery. The trucks were supplied by the Eqstra group which put together an innovative leasing solution for COMS.
Konkola North - a major new Copperbelt venture
South African companies - including DRA, Murray & Roberts Cementation and Grinaker-LTA Mining - are figuring prominently in the development of the new Konkola North mine in Zambia. Construction started late last year and first production is expected in 2013.
Venmyn bridges the mining/finance divide
A profile of Venmyn, a specialist company operating in the resources field. Founded in the late 1980s, Venmyn offers a wide range of services including technical reporting, mineral asset evaluation, BEE deal structures and corporate marketing services.
Junior explorer targets phosphate in Cabinda
Newly listed Minbos is targeting a resource of between 333 Mt and 538 Mt of phosphate at its Cabinda project in Angola. There is already one drill rig on site and this will soon be joined by another two. The company is hoping to publish a JORC-compliant resource in the second quarter of this year.
Jwaneng orders giant electric rope shovels
Jwaneng in Botswana has ordered what will be the largest electric rope shovels in Africa for use in its Cut-8 project, which involves the removal of 658 Mt of overburden. The units are Bucyrus 495HR2s.
