Vote Of Confidence

Gamsberg zinc project a thumbs up for South Africa amid investment slowdown

- Mia Breytenbach

Amid low levels of capital project activities in South Africa, the $400-million Gamsberg zinc and lead project, in the Northern Cape, has become the largest mining project under execution in the country.

“Commentators have noted that this significant investment in the South African mining industry comes at a time when few other companies are investing – in mining and in South Africa. This investment signals a strong vote of confidence in the mining industry, in zinc and in Africa by the Vedanta group, says Vedanta Zinc International CEO Deshnee Naidoo.

From the discovery of the zinc deposit in 1972 and its not being developed into a mine by various mining companies for more than 40 years, the project – a flagship development for Vedanta Zinc International – is well under way to reach first production by mid-2018, to ramp up to full production within 9 to 12 months thereafter and feed into a global supply-demand gap.

“Vedanta Zinc International has done well, partly on its larger acquisition goal and in-house commitment to developing the project within five years of its acquisition,” Vedanta Zinc International projects VP Satish Kumar tells Mining Weekly.

Gamsberg has reserves and resources of 214-million tonnes, with an average grade of between 6% and 6.5%, and an estimated life-of-mine of 30 years.

The mine will comprise an openpit and a concentrator plant, with an ore feed rate of four-million tonnes a year. It will also consist of associated infrastructure, including a tailings dam, a waste rock dump and stockpiles, offices and workshops, a power transmission line from the Aggeneys substation to Gamsberg, a water pipeline and an access road from the N14 to Gamsberg.