New Mokala manganese mine heading for steady state, solar power - Creamer Media's Mining Weekly

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – With mining now ramping up, the new Mokala manganese mine in the Northern Cape anticipates being at steady state production by the third quarter of 2021.

Once that happens, the mine expects to be producing more than one-million tonnes of manganese ore a year, with an opencast life-of-mine of more than ten years. Beyond its opencast activities, additional resources are available underground.

Importantly, the mine intends to establish a solar-powered, renewable energy supply in the near term that will decrease its carbon footprint.

The mine is 51% owned by Ntsimbintle Holdings Pty, a broad-based black economic empowerment company led by businessman Saki Macozoma, and 49% by Glencore plc, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries. While Ntsimbintle contributed the exploration and mining rights, Glencore is the project’s technical partner.

Mokala is the second mining project that Ntsimbintle has brought into production in the last ten years, after Tshipi é Ntle Manganese Mine, also located in the Northern Cape.

Site establishment began at Mokala in May 2020, amid the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Excavation and construction activities at the mine quickly gained momentum while stringent Covid prevention methods ensured high safety standards,

Manganese ore was accessed just five months after blasting operations began and ore was extracted for the first time on March 19.

An official launch marking this milestone was held on March 29, and the mine’...



Read Full Story: https://www.miningweekly.com/article/new-mokala-manganese-mine-heading-for-steady-state-solar-power-2021-09-28

Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.