Unki Mine lifespan healthy
ANGLO American-owned Unki Platinum Mine has a healthy lifespan up to 2080 while the mining giant is taping from only two of its eight exploration sites, an official has said.
Responding to questions fielded by journalists during a tour of the mine recently, the mine’s technical manager, Mr Clifford Mutevha, said there were eight exploration sites with platinum deposits with an estimated healthy lifespan of over 60 years.
“Before we embarked on the smelting plant project which we are currently undertaking with huge capital investment involved, we first conducted a feasibility study including visiting other mines to see if we can work around and use their smelting plants.
“We also did a feasibility study on the mine’s lifespan and according to the study, the mine has a healthy life span up to the year 2080,” he said.
Mr Mutevha said they were mining about 150 000 tonnes of platinum ore per month from its Unki East exploration site, with seven other sites still relatively untamed.
“There are eight exploration sites that include Unki East South, West and North. At the moment we are mining about 150 000 tonnes of ore per month and the bulk of it is from the Unki East site,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Mutevha said the mine was dispatching about 5 000 tonnes of concentrate to South Africa on a monthly basis although this would soon end once the mine’s smelting project was complete.
He said the tonnage of ore to be imported after the beneficiation process would be about 150 000 tonnes per month.
“At the moment we are dispatching four to five trucks to South Africa with concentrate every day but when the smelter becomes functional, we will be sending around 150 000 tonnes per month because it will have been further processed.
“This means the mineral that will be sent will be of more value. At the same time we will be sending less tonnage with more value than the current situation where we are sending huge tonnes with little value,” he said.
The Unki Mine smelting plant is expected to be commissioned in July next year.