JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – TSX-listed Katanga Mining will continue to focus on waste mining ahead of the commissioning of its whole ore leach (WOL) project, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Katanga mined 5.39-million tonnes during the quarter ended March 31, a 250% increase on that mined in the fourth quarter of 2016 and 560% higher year-on-year.
The company attributed the uptick to increased waste mining activities in view of the commissioning of the WOL project, which is expected to start in the fourth quarter.
The company in September 2015 suspended the processing of copper and cobalt to allow for the construction of the WOL project, which was still ongoing.
The miner reported that significant progress had been made on the structural, mechanical, platework and piping activities on the acid tanks, preleach and leach trains, with related capital expenditure amounting to $31.1-million.
Concurrent with the construction of the WOL project plant and infrastructure, the current life-of-mine plan continues to be optimised to ensure the appropriate blend will be supplied to the WOL project process when complete, to increase copper and cobalt recovery and to reduce operating cost per unit.