Zambia partners with Array Metals to process gold
LUSAKA – Zambia’s state mining investment company ZCCM Investments Holdings (ZCCM-IH) has entered into a joint venture with mining services firm Array Metals to process production from a gold deposit, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
Africa’s second-largest copper producer, Zambia is trying to diversify its revenue base, and aims to produce 40 000 kg of gold in 2020 from primary and secondary sources including gold bought from small-scale miners.
ZCCM-IH subsidiary Consolidated Gold Company Zambia (CGCZ) will hold 65% of the project processing gold in Mumbwa, west of Lusaka, with Array Metals Zambia holding 35%.
The project aims to produce about 3 tonnes of gold within the next two years, worth approximately $150-million at current prices, the statement said.
Array Metals estimated the reserve at about 3 million tonnes of gold ore material containing between 2.5 and 3.5 grams of gold per tonne.
“We have a two-year study conducted by Array Metals that has an estimated inferred resource by JORC standards of 3 million tonnes of gold ore material containing between 2.5 and 3.5 grams of the precious metal per tonne” said Array Metals Group Vice President Mr Chris Rugari after the signing of the agreement.
The overall targeted gold production is 7 500 kg from the resource, but under the agreement only part of the deposit would be processed before ramping up production, Rugari said.
Rugari said Array Metals hoped to contribute to the development of Mumbwa, traditionally known for agriculture, through economic diversification and job creation.
Witnessing the signing of the JV agreement, ZCCM-IH Chief Executive Officer Mr Mabvuto Chipata said that ZCCM-IH’s strategic drive to harness the gold potential as mandated by Government from areas with recorded gold occurrences in the country is aimed at contributing to the 40 tonne target, which can only be achieved through such partnerships.
And CGCZ Chief Executive Officer Mr. Faisal Keer further stated that the CGCZ is partnering with various small-scale gold miners in the country by providing mining technical expertise, and providing access to earth moving machinery and gold processing lines to kick-start and boost their gold production.
Mr Keer added that the mining and processing operations in the Mumbwa project is earmarked to start by Mid June 2020, once all statutory and regulatory approvals are obtained.
“As a medium-sized company, we are very excited about this partnership because it gives us an opportunity to work directly with the Government in contributing meaningfully to the development of Mumbwa traditionally known for agriculture, through economic diversification, local participation and job creation”, Mr Rugari added.
CGCZ is a gold processing and trading Joint Venture partnership between Karma Mining Services and Rural Development (55%) and ZCCM-IH (45%).
Zambia has also built 10 milling plants to process gold in a drive to formalise artisanal and small-scale miners and diversify from copper mining, ZCCM-IH said last week.
As part of the push to monetise gold resources, the government is also trying to make copper mines account for the gold they produce as a by-product of the mining process. First Quantum Minerals’ Kansanshi Mine, the only copper mine that has declared its gold production, produced 4200 kg of gold in 2018.
Source: Reuters
