CUPRIC Canyon, a North American private equity firm, will begin construction of the Khoemacau copper project in Botswana in October, said Reuters.
Citing Johannes Tsimako, a manager of the Khoemacau project, Reuters said first metal was expected from the project in 2021. Tsimako said initially the project would produce 60,000 tonnes of copper a year, increasing to about 100,000 tonnes a year by 2023.
Sparsely-populated Botswana is the world’s top diamond producer by value, but the government of the southern African country is trying to diversify the economy to reduce its dependence on the gemstone, said Reuters.
Cupric Canyon expects the underground mine to also produce two million ounces of silver a year over 20 years. Construction of Khoemacau was meant to start last year, but it was held up by delays in acquiring environmental permits as well as uncertainty around power supply, said Reuters.
