Trigon Metals Inc., which is resuscitating production at its Kombat Mine in Namibia, bringing hope to scores of unemployed residents of the settlement in the Otjozondjupa region, has announced the production of its first copper concentrate.
The publicly traded Canadian exploration and development company announced in a statement on Thursday that it had produced its first sale-ready dried copper concentrate at the Kombat mill, which has a capacity of 1 000 tonnes per day, on Friday, 18 August.
The company added that on Monday, 21 August, the first full day of concentrate production, 436 tonnes of ore were processed through the mill (hitting nearly 44% of capacity at 79,52% copper recovery rate) and it has set a target of 70% production by the end of next month.
The company further said in the commissioning stage which ran from May this year, the mill was purposely fed lower-grade material at an average feed grade of 0,73% copper that was rescued from waste identified by ore spotters.
“The utilisation of low-grade feed makes the result stand out as more impressive, having produced a concentrate grade of 33,5% copper at recoveries of 79,5%. The resulting concentrate has exceeded the expected grade of 20%, and recoveries have the potential to improve with higher-grade feed,” noted the statement.
Higher-grade concentrate translates directly to higher profitability due to lower shipment and treatment charges per pound of copper produced.
The company said stockpiles on the run-of-mine pad now total 27 000 tonnes of ore averaging close to 1,2% copper and representing one month’s supply of ore feed.
Trigon vice president for operations and Kombat Mine manager, Fanie Müller, commented: “The mill is performing very well at this level of efficiency on our starter feed, which puts us in an excellent position as we start to feed our target grades.”
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.
Trigon has moved a gear up in resuscitating operations at the mine, with the company reporting last week that it had acquired underground mining equipment worth nearly US$9 million (N$170 million) from a South African company.
The equipment is expected to be delivered at Kombat between October 2023 and March 2024.
Trigon’s core business is focused on copper and silver holdings in mine-friendly African jurisdictions.
The company has operations in Morocco and Namibia – where it holds an 80% interest in five mining licences in the Otavi Mountainlands, an area widely recognised for its high-grade copper deposits.
Email: matthew@namibian.com.na
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