Zambia KCM Deep Mine Shaft Nearly Complete, Sees Higher Output

CHILILABOMBWE Zambia, Jun 14, 2011 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) -- Zambia's largest mining company, Konkola Copper Mines, is putting final touches on the sinking of a major underground shaft which is expected to more than triple the company's annual copper ore output, a company executive said Monday.

Work on the sinking of the 1.5-kilometer deep mine shaft is expected to be completed by the end of the month. The shaft will allow the company access to richer ore bodies beneath the mine property, said Billy Sakala, the deep mine project manager.

"We are only remaining with 12 meters to reach the target," he said. "This shaft allows us to operate at new levels and access a richer ore body, grading at 3.5% copper."

KCM, a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources PLC (VED.LN) launched the project in 2007, aiming to sink the shaft deeper than the existing operations. The project is expected to extend the lifespan of the mine by at least 35 years

Completion of the project will enable KCM to raise annual ore output to 7.5 metric tons by 2012 from the current 2 million tons, bringing the total finished copper output to at least 400,000 tons.

Despite the record depth, the shaft offers some of the best underground working conditions, thanks to the Copperbelt's low geothermal temperatures, Sakala said. This gives the mining company an edge over companies operating in South Africa and Latin America, where temperatures are sometimes "unbearable" at underground mines.

The deep mine project is among the $2 billion in expansion projects implemented by Vedanta since it took over KCM in 2004.

However, building the underground shaft isn't without challenges. The company has put in a new second water pumping chamber at the 1100-meter level.

"This is one of the wettest mines in the world, where some 300,000 cubic feet of water have to be pumped out every day" Sakala said. Daily water pumping requires reliable power supply, and the company has put in place a 24-megawatt standby thermal plant at the new shaft.