WINDHOEK, Mar. 2 – Namibia’s Kombat Mine, a mine which was purchased in May 2021 by Trigon Metals, has shipped its first 31 dry metric tonnes of copper concentrate to the coastal town of Walvis Bay, said Trigon Metals on its website Tuesday.
“The first truck load was delivered from the mine to IXM warehouses in Walvis Bay, Namibia, late last week. The truckload contained 31 dry metric tonnes of concentrate, grading 20.41% copper and 265 g/t silver,” read the statement, adding that the truckload is the first of 400 tonnes of concentrate now produced and stockpiled at the Kombat Mine.
President and CEO of Trigon Metals, Jed Richardson expressed delight at the pace in which operations were moving ten months after his company begun the purchases that were required to restart the Kombat Mine.
“Congratulations to the team, as they have achieved another tremendous milestone at Kombat. Overall, we have met our numerous goals in a fast moving process. Commissioning continues on all levels and, following the initial strong performance of the mill announced in January, we have been pushing the mill towards stronger recoveries and continuous operation. The mill is now hitting its stride, we are operating at a steady state 70% capacity, producing over 35 tonnes of concentrate per day. We are working our way to a declaration of commercial production.”
Swiss base metal commodity trading company IXM will make provisional payment for tonnes of copper concentrate delivered to port. Provisional payment is 90% of the projected proceeds for the metal content determined by an independent laboratory on site at the mine, with the balance of payment adjusted on final assays by IXM. On May 6, 2021 Trigon announced it had begun the purchases needed to restart the Kombat Mine, ten months hence, the mine is generating its first revenues.
IXM is a global merchandizer of base and other non-ferrous metals, with expert teams on every continent. It is among the top copper, zinc, lead concentrate, and cobalt merchants internationally and is a leading trader of refined base metals. It is already active in Namibia, with a strong track record in that region. The company is fully owned by the international mining company, CMOC group, one of the leading suppliers of copper, cobalt, molybdenum, tungsten, niobium and phosphate fertilizer products, with operations across the world.
Trigon has an 80 per cent stake in the Kombat Mine in which it has dubbed its “flagship operation where production is forecast to grow to over 30 million pounds of copper produced annually using open pit and underground mining methods.”
Currently the company has operations in Namibia and Morocco. In Namibia, the company controls five mining licences in the Otavi Mountainlands, an area of Namibia widely recognized for its high-grade copper deposits where the Company is focused on growing production at Kombat through development and further exploration. In Morocco, the Company is the holder of the Silver Hill project, a highly prospective copper and silver exploration project. – musa@namibiadailynews.info
