Botswana begins first iron-ore mining project
GABORONE - Botswana has begun work on its first iron-ore mine, a senior government official said on Tuesday, as the country seeks rapid diversification from diamond mining.
The African nation's heavy reliance on diamonds, which account for a fifth of Botswana's GDP and more than two thirds of its foreign exchange income, was exposed last year as the coronavirus crisis unfolded.
The pandemic curbed demand for diamonds and pushed down prices, with the country's economy shrinking by almost 8%, having achieved up to 4% growth before the pandemic.
Botswana has since tried to exploit its vast natural resources by granting licences to mine commodities such as coal, copper and iron-ore.
The Ikongwe iron-ore mine, owned by a unit of India's Yashomann Industries, was recently granted a licence to develop the project.
"The mine is also looking at processing some of the run-on-mine material for local steel production. This will revive the local steel industry," said Lefoko Moagi, minister for mineral resources, green technology and energy security.
Chetan Patil, director of Vision Ridge, the business developing the mine, told Reuters on Tuesday that the deposit would produce a million tonnes of iron-ore per year for ten years, with iron-ore content of up to 65%, commonly referred to as 65% iron.
Anything above 60% iron content is considered good for steelmaking.
"Because of the prevailing high international market, we will target the export market but we also have plans to set up a pig-iron plant in Botswana," Patil said.
Prices for iron-ore have soared over the past year to record highs averaging around $240 a tonne for various grades driven by strong demand from China, which produces more than half of the world's steel.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation