Name of the Mine
Motheo mine.

Location 
Kalahari Copper Belt, in Botswana.

Mine Owner/s 
Sandfire Resources.

Brief Description 
Motheo is a new, long-life copper production hub centred on the development and mining of the T3 and A4 openpit mines.

Brief History  
The Motheo mine was completed on time and on budget in Sandfire’s 2023 financial year. First copper concentrate was produced at the mine in May 2023 with the introduction of ore to the semiautogenous grinding mill.

Primary Metals/Minerals 
Copper concentrate.

Secondary Metals/Minerals 
Silver by-product.

Geology/Mineralisation 
The T3 deposit occurs within the Ghanzi-Chobe belt in western Botswana. The stratigraphy in this belt comprises the basal Kgwebe Formation volcanic lithofacies unconformably overlain by the Ghanzi Group sedimentary lithofacies.

The Ghanzi Group is a dominantly siliciclastic marine sedimentary group comprising the Kuke, N’gwako Pan, D’Kar and Mamuno Formation sedimentary lithofacies.

A4 occupies a similar structural and stratigraphic position to that of the T3 deposit. It occurs within a northeast-southwest-trending periclinal anticline (A4 Dome) with a core of Ngwako Pan Formation sandstone, overlain by a succession of D’Kar Formation shale, sandstone, siltstone and carbonates.

Reserves 
The T3 deposit had proven and probable reserves as declared on December 1, 2020, of 39.9-million tonnes grading 39.9-million tonnes grading 0.9% copper and 12.2 g/t silver.

The A4 deposit had proven and probable reserves as declared on September 22, 2021, of 9.7-million tonnes grading 1.2% copper and 18 g/t silver.

Resources 
The T3 deposit had total measured, indicated and inferred resources as declared on December 1, 2020, of 53.3-million tonnes grading 0.9% copper and 12.7 g/t silver.

The A4 deposit had measured, indicated and inferred resources as declared on July 21, 2021, of 9.8-million tonnes grading 1.4% copper and 21 g/t silver.

Type of Mine
Openpit.

Mining Method  
Openpit mining using conventional truck-and-shovel methods.

Major Infrastructure/Equipment 
The mine comprises a 3.2-million-tonne-a-year processing plant using a conventional crushing, grinding and flotation circuit.

The T3 openpit includes one pit with haul roads connected to a single waste rock dump, mineralised waste dump, low-grade stockpile and a run-of-mine pad. There are surface water diversion channels, dewatering bores, light and heavy vehicle workshop facilities, explosives storage, processing, supply, technical services and administration facilities.

Mine facilities at the A4 deposit include surface mining operations, expansion of the processing plant and supporting infrastructure.

The Motheo mining accommodation facility is already sized for the A4 deposit driven expansion. New infrastructure for A4 will include a light vehicle access road from the accommodation facility, dual lane HV road to be built from A4 to the Motheo plant, tyre/breakdown workshops, fuel, crib and office facilities, as well as electrical and water supplies.

Prospects 
Sandfire is expanding the Motheo mine, which will take installed processing capacity to 5.2-million tonnes a year and allow for the mining of the higher-grade A4 resource to start.  This will result in copper production at Motheo increasing to more than 50 000 t in the 2025 financial year.

Further, mineralisation has been discovered at Motheo’s A1 deposit, which has the potential to extend the life of the mine.

Contact Details
Sandfire Resources
Tel +61 8 6430 3800
Email admin@sandfire.com.au

Sources
Sandfire Resources. Website: https://www.sandfire.com.au/
Sandfire Resources. Sandfire approves development of new long-life copper mine in Botswana (December 1, 2020).
Sandfire Resources. Maiden ore reserve for A4 deposit and PFS confirms 5.2Mtpa Motheo copper project (September 22, 2021).
Sandfire Resources. Annual Report 2023 (August 31, 2023).