Following its mining restart at its Kombat copper project in Namibia, Canadian copper producer Trigon Metals has said that it is expecting to ship its first copper concentrate this August.
In an update to investors on mining operating costs for the open pit at Kombat Mine in Namibia, Trigon Metals President and CEO, Jed Richardson said that currently, they are in the ramp up phase and looking to start the mill in late July.
“October will be the full month of mill operation and concentrate shipment,” he said adding that for the rest of the year through to March to next year, the miner expects operating cost of US$2.83 per pound of copper.
He also revealed that the mine is preparing for underground mining having already moved in equipment for back-up power among others.
“We currently have 362 people on site working and we are prepping for underground mining and a lot of work is already going into that for next year. We will just have an open pit mining operation this year,” he said.
By the end of next March, the company anticipates 4.4 million pounds of copper production. The amount is expected to reach 6.8 million pounds in the first full year of production.
The Kombat Mine is currently the only operating commercial copper mine in Namibia. Mining operations originally commenced in 1962, having produced a total output of 12.5 million tonnes of ore grading 2.6% copper on average until 2008. The mine still boasts NI 43-101 measured and indicated open pit and underground resources of an additional 12.2 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.9% copper. Exploration potential exists close to existing workings at surface and underground, alongside 35km of mineralized strike-length Trigon has yet to explore.
The inherited mine infrastructure has an estimated value of more than USD $150 million, including; a mill that can process 1,100 tonnes/day, an 800m shaft with two other vertical shafts, extensive underground workings, a tailings facility, ramp systems, mine buildings and concentrator.
One of the major benefits of the mine is its proximity to the port of Walvis Bay and the town of Tsumeb, one of five commercial-grade smelters in Africa.
The mine was shut down due to underground flooding in 2008.
At the mine restart, Richardson, commented: “I would like to thank our staff, contractors, suppliers, local partners and the Namibian government for their efforts in getting Kombat back into production after our pause in July 2022. This is an important milestone for our Company and the Kombat community. We are excited to begin production and look forward to the continued growth of our operations at Kombat.”
Trigon is a publicly traded Canadian exploration and development company with its core business focused on copper and silver holdings in mine-friendly African jurisdictions. Currently, the company has operations in Namibia and Morocco. In Namibia, the Company holds an 80% interest in five mining licences in the Otavi Mountainlands, an area of Namibia widely recognized for its high-grade copper deposits, where the Company is focused on exploration and re-development of the previously producing Kombat Mine. In Morocco, the Company is the holder of the Silver Hill project, a highly prospective copper and silver exploration project.