Trigon Metals says the water levels at Kombat Copper Mine have decreased by 157m since the dewatering exercise started in September 2023.
The Kombat copper mine operated from 1962 until 2008 when it closed partly because of underground flooding and partly due to low copper prices.
Manila Investments owned Kombat when it closed down.
In 2012, Trigon Metals acquired Manila Investments and took over the mine.
When Trigon restarted operations at Kombat in October 2021, it concentrated on open mining, with plans to dewater the underground shafts and start operations in the first half of 2024.
Trigon installed two powerful (2.5MW) submersible pumps in the main shaft at Asis West, together with 7.2 MW of emergency backup generators, to ensure uninterrupted power in July and August 2023.
The company says the water pumped out of the mine is potable and piped into an open canal that feeds into the Omatako Dam, which supplies water to Windhoek.
Trigon CEO Jed Richardson says the open pit mining has achieved commercial production, processing 1,000 tonnes per day of ore and shipping 250 tonnes of concentrate a week.
Richardson says it is important to understand that work is well underway to expand the mill’s throughput and commence mining from the underground to triple the production profile while lowering production costs and amplifying profitability.
Trigon has already bought the underground mining fleet, which is expected to arrive in December 2023.
Trigon local partner Knowledge Katti says the Kombat mine is a very important project for Namibia, especially the children from the Kombat community.
Katti says Trigon Namibia will deliver sustainable benefits for years to come, including an expected minimum of 800 direct jobs.
“The project has already been instrumental in supplying underground water to the Namibian national water company.
“We anticipate this partnership continuing for the foreseeable future since we upgraded our infrastructure to be able to pump more water to the Omatako Dam,” Katti says.
