Mabiza Resources resumes operations at the Munali nickel mine
Published by Claire Cuddihy,
Assistant Editor
Global Mining Review,
Mabiza Resources and its major investor, Consolidated Nickel Mines Ltd (CNM), have announced the resumption of mining operations at the Munali nickel mine, located in southern Zambia. The refurbished mine was officially opened on 16 April by His Excellency Edgar Lungu, President of the Republic of Zambia at a ceremony with key dignitaries from Government, including the Minister of Mines, the Honourable Richard Musukwa, MP and the Minister of Health, the Honourable Dr Chitalu Chilufya, MP.
Since CNM became the new operators of the Munali nickel mine in 2014, the experienced team has invested over US$50 million to restart the mine. CNM has undertaken a complete reassessment of the project. All key technical aspects have been reviewed and re-engineered, from re-interpreting the orebody, changing the mining method, to revising the metallurgical process with the introduction of Dense Media Separation (DMS) technology and differential flotation. The Munali nickel mine comprises an underground mining operation extracting nickel sulfide ore, DMS technology and standard flotation circuit to produce a 10 - 12% nickel concentrate. The mine expects to rampup production to steady-state levels of 60 000 tpy by 4Q19. The mine is managed by an all-Zambian management team and currently has a workforce of 380 people, of which 10% are women.
“It is with great pride that we celebrate the official opening of Zambia’s newest nickel mine, the Munali nickel mine. Today marks a new beginning for the mine with a bright future ahead, backed by an experienced investor Consolidated Nickel Mines” said Matthew Banda, General Manager, the Munali nickel mine, and Mabiza Resources.
“We are committed to being a responsible miner and ensuring the socio-economic benefits created by the mine are lasting and shared with our local communities and host government.”
Simon Purkiss, CEO of CNM, said: “Today is the culmination of nearly four years of hard work by the team and has involved a full reassessment of the project to de-risk it both technically and economically. I’d like to thank all the stakeholders involved – our employees and contractors, local communities, business partners, regulatory authorities and Government – who have contributed to our plan to restart operations at the Munali nickel mine. This is a tremendous accomplishment.”
Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/18042019/mabiza-resources-resumes-operations-at-the-munali-nickel-mine/
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