February 2014
MODERN MINING
31
COMPANIES
35 Level to 45 Level and, according to Mwana,
“secure the life of mine of the Trojan asset.”
Total (C3) cash costs increased during the
quarter from US$10 390/t to US$11 819/t, with
this being attributable to the continued pro-
duction ramp up and the re-deepening project.
Underground tonnage improved marginally
and should improve further with the imminent
delivery of two new LHDs to the mine.
Looking at the future of Trojan and the BNC
operation, Mpinga says that Mwana’s inten-
tion is to refurbish and restart the smelter and
refinery, which were originally built by Anglo
American in the 1960s. He says that the smelter
has the capacity to treat 175 000 t/a of concen-
trate. This capacity is far in excess of BNC’s
own requirements so there is a potential for the
smelter to be adapted to enable it to also handle
concentrate – potentially up to 100 000 t/a –
from Zimbabwe’s platinum producers, which is
currently being transported to South Africa for
smelting and refining.
Mpinga believes the refurbishing and reopen-
ing of the smelter (excluding the refinery) could
cost in the region of US$25 million but says the
savings on Mwana’s transport costs – currently
running at approximately US$1,2 million a
month – could see the project paying for itself
within two years. He adds that Hatch has been
retained to investigate the feasibility of bringing
the smelter back on line.
Further down the line, Mwana is also con-
templating recommissioning the Shangani
underground mine to the west of Gweru, which
has a resource of nearly 68 000 tonnes of nickel,
and developing the Hunters Road deposit north
of Gweru, where the resource totals 200 kt of
nickel at a 0,55 % grade. Hunters Road is mine-
able by open-pit methods with water, transport
links and power readily accessible.
While Mpinga is the driving force behind
Mwana, he has gathered around him a strong
team that includes one-time DRDGold CEO
Mark Wellesley-Wood as Non-executive
Chairman and James Arthur (whose previ-
ous posts include a stint as GM of Botswana’s
Mowana copper mine) as Executive VP –
Operations. Exploration is in the hands of
well-known geologist Charl du Plessis, pre-
viously responsible for African exploration
at AngloGold Ashanti, who is Executive VP
– Exploration, while Chris van Aswegen, pre-
viously GM at the Blue Ridge platinum mine
in South Africa, is VP – Mining and Projects.
David Murangari, with over 35 years’ experi-
ence in Zimbabwe’s mining industry (among
other things, he was Chief Executive of the
Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe), runs BNC as
MD. At Freda Rebeccca, the MD is Toindepi
Muganyi, a graduate mining engineer with a
background in Botswana’s nickel/copper min-
ing sector.
Mwana Africa has disappointed in the past
but the company now seems to have a very real
prospect of emerging as a prominent player
in the junior to mid-tier mining market. With
over 5 Moz of gold and over 386 kt of contained
nickel in its portfolio, it clearly has an impres-
sive resource base when compared with many
of its peers. In addition, it has forged strong
strategic relationships with China International
Mining Group Corporation (CIMGC), Hailiang
(its JV partner in Katanga on its copper licences)
and Glencore. Add to this its solid operational
or near operational assets (in the form of Freda
Rebecca, Trojan, Shangani and the smelter/
refinery complex) and the future looks good for
the company. But mining is an uncertain game
and it will be interesting to revisit Mwana in a
year or two to see what success it is having in
realising its undeniable potential.
Report by Arthur Tassell, photos courtesy of Mwana Africa
Another view of Freda
Rebecca’s metallurgical
plant. In the six months to
30 September 2013, the
mine produced 45 324
ounces of gold.
