Sandfire Resources’ Botswana mine produces first concentrate

Sandfire Resources has produced its first copper concentrate at its Motheo Copper Mine in Botswana.

Construction of the Motheo Copper Mine is nearing completion, with equipment commissioning activities over 92% complete for the initial 3.2Mtpa processing capacity.

T3 Open Pit mining is proceeding on schedule with more than 270kt of ore at ~1.1% Cu (mill feed) and 130kt at ~0.7% Cu (lower grade commissioning ore) on the ROM Pad at the end of April 2023.

Sandfire’s Managing Director and CEO, Brendan Harris, charted the year ahead.

“Achieving these important milestones is an outstanding result for Sandfire and is a tribute to the excellent team that we have at Motheo,” said Harris. “First concentrate production at our newest mine signals the start of our ramp-up towards the initial 3.2Mtpa capacity, which we expect to achieve on a sustainable basis during the September Quarter of FY2024. With the approval of the A4 Project ESIA paving the way for the grant of the A4 Pit mining license, our attention now turns to the delivery of the rapid, low-cost expansion in capacity from 3.2Mtpa to 5.2Mtpa by early CY2024.”