Skorpion Zinc gets Vedanta lifeline

Global metal and mining company Vedanta Resources on Monday oversaw the first blast of its US$630 million (N$7.9 billion) Gamsberg zinc project in the Northern Cape. Groundbreaking at Gamsberg signals the start of the development of a 250 000 t/y opencast zinc mine, concentrator plant and associated infrastructure at Vedanta subsidiary Black Mountain Mines at the mining town of Aggeneys, 113 km north-east of Springbok. The mine is being developed as part of Vedanta’s overall three-year US$782 million (N$10 billion) Southern African Gamsberg-Skorpion integrated zinc project. The project includes development of an integrated roaster at the Skorpion Zinc refinery in Namibia, to enable it to treat zinc sulphide deposits from Gamsberg mine to produce high-grade zinc, and also extend the life of the Skorpion zinc operation, which had been earmarked for closure this year. Responsible capital allocation has never been more important, which Vedanta’s phased approach is recognising. “We’ve taken the first small steps and in the coming months we intend taking similar steps at Skorpion in Namibia. In the next three years we’ll feed the first ore into the crushers,” Vedanta CEO Tom Albanese told three plane loads of politicians, bankers, journalists and service providers, who flew to Gamsberg for the groundbreaking event. “We’re looking at this being fit for purpose at the right time,” Albanese said of the Gamsberg mine, which is scheduled to be producing zinc in 2018. He sees the area - which extends from Gamsberg to Skorpion and which arguably has the highest concentration of zinc on the planet - as a potential springboard for more development, anchored around Gamsberg. “We’re particularly excited about the potential from Gamsberg, which will replace depleted production from other mines,” was the comment of Deshnee Naidoo, CEO of Zinc International, a Vedanta subsidiary involved in mining, processing, refining and selling zinc concentrates. Monday’s blast signified phase one of a multi-phase project towards the development of a megapit, with further potential to go underground at the Gamsberg East portion, Naidoo said. At Skorpion, two concentrates and a high manganese fraction will be processed. GAMSBERG MININGWEEKLY