Sandfire Resources Ltd today confirmed award of Mining Licence for its Gantsi copper mine project.
The Company announced that the Mining Licence has been granted by Government of Botswana representing the final major permitting milestone required for full-scale construction of the project to commence.
Initial site works at Motheo commenced earlier this year, with sterilisation drilling, a 15km access road and construction of a 200-person camp already well advanced.Following the award of the Mining Licence, Sandfire will now mobilise additional personnel to site to commence construction of the process plant and other infrastructure.
Orders have already been placed for all key process equipment and long-lead items.Sandfire’s Managing Director and CEO, Mr Karl Simich, said the award of the Mining Licence represented a major milestone that would see a significant increase in construction and development activities on site.“We are absolutely delighted to now be in a position to move to full-scale construction at Motheo, with our construction crews expected to mobilise to site over the next few days.
Motheo is expected to generate approximately 1,000 jobs during construction and 600 full-time jobs during operations, and represents the foundation for Sandfire’s long-term growth plans in Botswana. “Sandfire is looking forward to becoming a major long-term player in the Kalahari Copper Belt, which represents one of the last under-explored large-scale copper provinces anywhere in the world,” he said.
