26
MODERN MINING
June 2014
COPPER
D
etails of the Khoemacau (previ-
ously Ghanzi) project, located
in the area between Maun and
Ghanzi, were provided by Jo-
hannes Tsimako, Regional Man-
ager of Khoemacau Copper Mining, whose par-
ent is Cupric Canyon Capital (Cupric). Owned
by management and the Barclays Natural Re-
source Investments division of Barclays Bank,
Cupric is based in Scottsdale, Arizona, and its
senior executives, led by Chairman Timothy
Snider and CEO Dennis Bartlett, are mainly
veterans of Phelps Dodge (and its successor,
Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold).
Development of Khoemacau – which was
acquired by Cupric when it took over Hana
Mining in February last year – is being headed
by Sam Rasmussen, who is Cupric’s CEO
Africa. He is also from the Phelps Dodge sta-
ble and his experience includes stints as GM
of the Los Bronces copper mine in Chile and
the Tenke-Fungurume copper mine in Katanga
in the DRC. Assisting him as Project Director
for Khoemacau is Rob Dey, a very experienced
South African engineer who spent many years
with Impala Platinum where he was Group
Engineering Manager.
Tsimako told his audience that Cupric was
fast-tracking the Khoemacau project and said
the feasibility study would be completed by
September this year, with the mining licence
application being submitted in the same month.
Subject to the granting of the licence, construc-
tion of the mine could start during 2015 with
first production expected in 2017. He said the
project team, mainly based in Botswana, cur-
rently comprised approximately 60 people and
that the ‘on-boarding of operational staff’ (the
mine will have around 700 employees) had
already started.
Cupric’s tenements extend over a distance
of over 100 km between Maun and Ghanzi but
the focus of the feasibility study, as Tsimako
explained, is just two small areas known as
Copper in Botswana –
false
A drill rig working in the
Khoemacau project area
in Ngamiland (photo:
Khoemacau Copper
Mining).
The Botswana Resource Sector Conference held in Gaborone on 10 and 11 June had speakers
presenting on diamonds, coal and even iron ore but perhaps the most interesting presentations were
on copper. Botswana’s experience with the metal has been mixed with the two new copper mines
opened over the past several years having both experienced ramp-up problems. There are signs,
however, that these operations are getting back on track. In addition, a brand new underground mine
– Khoemacau – is planned for the so-called ‘Kalahari Copperbelt’ in Ngamiland, with construction
very likely to start in early 2015.
Modern Mining’s
Editor, Arthur Tassell, attended the conference –
which will be the subject of further coverage next month – and filed this report.
