Bezant Resources says 130 employees and contractors are now resident at its Hope and Gorob copper-gold project in Namibia, as the mine prepares to send its first run-of-mine ore through the Tsoaxaub processing plant this month.
The workforce figure gives a clearer sense of the scale of activity underway at the project, where mining has started, and construction and commissioning work is progressing toward first concentrate production.
Bezant said the mine camp is about 75% complete and is already accommodating the 130 employees and contractors working at the operation.
The ramp-up comes as the project moves beyond construction into active mining, with the first two production blasts completed and run-of-mine ore being accumulated ahead of processing.
The company said ore produced from the first two blasts exceeded projected tonnage, building stockpiles ahead of the planned introduction of the first ore into the Tsoaxaub plant in September.
The full Unitrans mining and haulage fleets have also been delivered to site, strengthening the project’s capacity to move ore as operations increase.
Mine takes shape
Hope and Gorob is being developed as an open-pit copper-gold operation, with ore transported to the nearby Tsoaxaub processing facility.
The latest update shows that activity at the site now extends well beyond plant construction, with mining crews, contractors, haulage equipment, and camp infrastructure operating simultaneously as the project approaches production.
Bezant said 75% of the required surface infrastructure has been delivered, while the C1 structural and civil completion certificate has been achieved.
Mechanical completion under the C2 milestone is expected during September, while electrical drives and instrumentation were reported to be about 90% complete.
The project’s ore sorter was clearing customs at the time of the update, and the first processing reagents had also been delivered.
Those milestones leave the processing plant as the critical link between the ore already being mined and the project’s move into concentrate production.
Expansion already under review
Bezant and its partners are also considering increasing the scale of the operation before the initial development has fully ramped up.
The company said it has accelerated a review of the Phase II expansion, partly in response to commodity prices and results emerging from project development.
A higher mass-pull processing strategy is among the options being assessed as the partners look for ways to increase production from the existing mineral inventory.
Bezant has previously pointed to a potential mine life of about 35 years at Hope and Gorob. However, the company has not yet published a revised economic model incorporating the expansion options now under consideration.
