Rosh Pinah Mine’s RP2.0 expansion project is on track for the scheduled commissioning towards the start of Q2 2025.
Trevali, which had a 90% interest in Rosh Pinah before selling to Appian Capital Advisory in June 2023, started the program in January 2022.
Head of Base Metals at Appian Capital Advisory, Ignacio Bustamante, told Fastmarkets in an exclusive interview on April 4, 2024, that Rosh Pinah Zinc will complete its RP2.0 expansion project by July 2026.
The 2.0 expansion project includes constructing new processing facilities, including adding a paste fill and water treatment plant, a dedicated portal, and a decline to extended deposits.
The project will increase mill throughput from 0.7 million tons to 1.3 million tons of ore per annum on average, increasing zinc equivalent production to 170 million pounds per annum.
Trevali had envisaged the expansion to target 135 million pounds a year of payable zinc on average, 23.7 million pounds a year of lead, and 303 000 oz/y of silver over an expected nine-year post-expansion mine life.
The company announced Wednesday that construction has passed the 60% completion mark.
According to the construction update, installing the associated underground piping and boreholes to distribute the paste to the various stopes is also well on track.
The update further said the construction of the water treatment plant to facilitate recycling the water recovered from the underground and the paste plants was going well.
Furthermore, the groundwork and concrete work for installing the SAG mill and floatation cells are moving quickly.
The new production offices and centralised control room have been commissioned, and personnel have occupied these state-of-the-art offices.
A contractor has been appointed to construct a new 20km powerline that will successfully supply the additional electricity required to commission RP2.0.
Background
The Rosh Pinah deposit was first discovered in 1963. Drilling commenced in 1965, and shortly thereafter, an operating company was formed (Imcor Zinc (Pty) Ltd (Imcor)). Preparatory work and mine development commenced in 1967, with the first ore production in May 1969.
Mining was halted from 1993 to 1995 due to mine liquidation.
In 1996, the mining rights were awarded to PE Minerals (Namibia) (Pty) Ltd, and in 1998, Rosh RPZC was formed from a JV. June 11, 2012, Glencore International PLC (Glencore) acquired an 80.08% interest in RPZC.
Namibian Broad-Based Empowerment Groupings and an Employee Empowerment Participation Scheme owned the remaining 19.92%.
On August 31st, 2017, Trevali completed a transaction with Glencore, including an 80.08% interest in the Rosh Pinah Mine.
Trevali ownership subsequently increased by an additional 9.88% to 89.96% due to a share buyback by RPZC.
