At least three mines are expected to open between this year and 2026, Botswana Mining and Energy Conference heard on Wednesday.
“Botswana has a lot of minerals. And to sustain our economy going forward, these minerals need to be developed,” Chief Executive Officer of Chamber of Mines, Charles Siwawa said.
“We have significant resources of coal,” he added.
Tlou Energy is developing a 10 MW plant to be connected to BPC grid in Serowe village. The company intends to gradually extend it to between 100-200 MW and it will focus on gas-fired power
“In two years or so, A-Cap should be operating its uranium mine in the Central District,” Siwawa added.
He further noted the 300 MW power plant being built by Jindal “is expected in about two years”
The Asian company is also involved in raft of local and regional programmes including the development of the mine, the building of a 300 MW power plant at the sites and a coal washing plant -that will be connected to the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) grid – and the acquisition of the railway line to Nakala seaport in Mozambique.
Furthermore, Botswana and South African governments have committed to building a 75 km railway line that will connect Mmamabula to the small town of Lephalale in Limpopo Province in northern South Africa.
Siwawa praised Morupule Colliery Mine for being able to penetrate the international markets. Morupule is a land linked area, and can use the railway-line to the north through Zimbabwe to Mozambique seaports for exports to Europe. Last year, it exported around 500,000 tonnes to South Africa- which it expects to push to 1.2 million tonnes this year.
South Africa’s coal resources are getting depleted, while the country is facing a dire power issue and regular extended black-outs attributed to ageing machinery. Siwawa also indicated the Minergy in Masala coal fields also did well. Minergy is a success story and managed to beat their South African competitors on price. While Minergy operates an open cast mine, South African mines have underground mines, which is making harder and too costly for them to compete.
Siwawa also hailed BPC for extending their power transmission to the Kgalagadi copper-belt, reducing operating costs for Sandfire Mine – near Gantsi – and Khoemacau Mine – north of Maun.
Minerals Development Company Botswana’s (MDCB’s), chief executive officer, Matome Malema, said his company is agile and has “global investment focus” that enables it to invest in known mining countries.
“We will, however, focus on the local investment arena whilst building the capacity and track-record for regional and international investments,” he said.
“MDCB will remain commodity agnostic, investing across all commodities subject to the sustainability and viability of the investment,” Malema said.
“We believe there is significant potential for creating a vibrant steel industry in Botswana through a more aggressive focus on the synergistic potential of iron ore, lime stone, and vast coal reserves,” he added.
With 65 percent iron contentment, Ikongwe- a small village near Shoshong – has one of the best iron ore reserves. Anything above 60 percent iron content is considered good for steelmaking. The project mouth-balled when international steel prices slumped.
Source: https://www.sundaystandard.info/its-a-mine-boom-in-botswana/
