Australian miner Sandfire Resources has appointed Tshukudu Metals Botswana to service its open-pit T3 Motheo copper project in the region. The contract is valid for seven years and three months with an investment of $496mn.
Sandfire will sign off on mining activities after it receives mining licenses and Tshukudu forms a 70:30 partnership with a local investor in Botswana before 2022. Tshukudu is a subsidiary of African Mining Services that already operates two units in the region – Barminco which is an underground mining division, and the Khoemacau copper mine 200 km north-east of the Motheo project.
Sandfire had ordered mining equipment and a concentrator for the project in April this year.