AMN - ZAMBIA: Munali Nickel Mine reopened

Mabiza Resources and major investor Consolidated Nickel Mines Ltd (CNM) have resumed operations at the Munali Nickel Mine in southern Zambia. The refurbished mine was officially opened on April 16 by Zambia's President Edgar Lungu.

Munali was opened at a ceremony with other key government dignitaries present including the Minister of Mines, Richard Musukwa, and the Minister of Health, Dr Chitalu Chilufya.

Since CNM became operators of the mine in 2014, more than US$50 million has been invested to restart the mine. This process involved CNM undertaking a complete reassessment of the project.

All key technical aspects have been reviewed and re-engineered, including re-interpreting the ore body, changing the mining method, revising the metallurgical process with the introduction of Dense Media Separation (DMS) technology and differential flotation.

The mine comprises an underground mining operation extracting nickel sulphide ore, DMS technology and standard flotation circuit to produce a 10-12% nickel concentrate.

CNM aims to add value by producing separate nickel and copper concentrates. These changes have the potential to reduce the operating costs to make the mine economical at low nickel prices.

The first ever DMS plant in Zambia is expected to improve head grade from 1% to 2% and improve recoveries.

CNM and its subsidiary Mabiza expect to ramp-up production to steady-state annual levels of 60,000 tonnes by the fourth quarter of 2019.

The mine is managed by an all-Zambian management team and has a workforce of 380 people, of which 10% are women.

Mabiza Resources general manager Matthew Banda, who is also mine general manager, said: “It is with great pride that we celebrate the official opening of Zambia’s newest nickel mine, the Munali Nickel Mine. Today marks a new beginning for the mine with a bright future ahead, backed by an experienced investor Consolidated Nickel Mines.

“We are committed to being a responsible miner and ensuring the socio-economic benefits created by the mine are lasting and shared with our local communities and host government.”

CNM CEO Simon Purkiss said: “Today is the culmination of nearly four years of hard work by the team and has involved a full reassessment of the project to de-risk it both technically and economically.

"I’d like to thank all the stakeholders involved – our employees and contractors, local communities, business partners, regulatory authorities and government – who have contributed to our plan to restart operations. This is a tremendous accomplishment.”

Munali, which is in Mazabuka District about 80km south of Lusaka, has been on care and maintenance since November 2011.

CNM acquired the rights to operate the mine from the owners Jinchuan Group out of China in 2014.

CNM has also been instrumental in the formation of a not-for-profit organisation, the Musangu Foundation. Musangu’s initiatives focus on developing livelihood projects in an area greater than the area around the mine.

Initiatives include conservation farming to naturally increase farm yields, alternative fuels sources to reduce tree cutting, educational programs and other initiatives that are part-funded by third-party donors but implemented with assistance from Mabiza.

www.mabiza.co.zm