Katti 'over the moon' as Kombat shatters targets
'Dedicated Namibian team' lauded
The underground mine has continued to exceed the production targets defined in its feasibility study.
Enterpreneur Knowledge Katti, whose Texel Mining and Exploration carries a 10% stake in the Kombat mine, is ecstatic over the mine's performance during the month of May when 12.1 tonnes of copper were produced per day. The majority owner, Canada's Trigon Metals, announced highlights of the mine for May and provided production guidance for the remainder of its financial year.
"At the Kombat mine, May was marked by several record-breaking underground mining days, leading to a production average of 12.1 tonnes of copper per day. Underground ore mined for the month totalled 19 664 tonnes at an average grade of 2.16%, leading to the production of 386 tonnes of copper. The company wishes to acknowledge its dedicated Namibian team for this outstanding achievement," Trigon said in a statement late last week.
The company said that the underground mine has continued to perform and exceed the production targets defined in its feasibility study. With production on track, focus has now shifted to the underground production from the Asis West underground complex of the mine. "Underground production is expected to amount to between 250 000 and 280 000 ore tonnes mined for the year, at an average grade between 1.95% and 2.3% copper. From the ore mined, Trigon projects its copper metal production to range between 5 500 tonnes (12.1 million pounds) and 6,100 tonnes (13.4 million pounds) for the year," it said.
Cash costs are expected to be an average of US$2.80/pounds to US$3.15/pounds for the full year, reducing on a quarter-by-quarter basis as production is ramped up to steady state.
Maximising underground production
Rennie Morkel, Trigon president and chief operating officer, commented: “We are exceptionally pleased with the accelerated ramp-up of the underground mine and thank our Namibian team for their hard work and ongoing efforts at Kombat. Our strategy for the upcoming financial year is focused on maximising underground production from the current mining areas as well as to ensure that we are establishing ourselves for the next phases of our growth trajectory, both at Asis West and in terms of the planned restart of Asis Far West".
When approached for comment, Katti said: "We are delighted at the vindication of our tireless journey, which started on a bumpy note a decade ago. This unprecedented level of performance is already competitively contributing to the Namibian economy and touching thousands of Namibian lives positively".
He added: "We consider our government a key stakeholder and our continued appeal is for improved investment in basic infrastructure in and around Kombat, which has become a budding locality, thanks to the ongoing successful mining activity. The spin-offs of such state interventions would be invaluable to the local community".
Local director at Trigon Namibia, Jeremy Hangula, said: "We are excited about the ever-improving production outcomes and the positive prospects for the year ahead. This is all down to the tireless efforts of our employees at the mine".