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Gaborone – Activities at Botswana’s Khomakau Zone 5 copper and silver mines have been suspended after two people were killed in an underground accident on Friday, the company said on Saturday.
Located in the Kalahari Copperbelt, which stretches from northeastern Botswana to western Namibia, the Khomakau mine is the only viable copper mine in the diamond-rich country that was subjected to two other liquefaction.
The two were employees of Barminco, a subsidiary of Parenti Global, an Australian-based mining contractor.
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“The cause of the accident is being investigated. It appears that the two, both explosive crew members, went 140 meters below the surface to work on the underground Shukudu section, “said Khomakou CEO Johan Ferreira.
Khoemacau made its first copper-silver concentration in June last year, and the mine is slowly increasing its output with the goal of reaching full production of 60,000 to 65,000 tons of copper (tpa) annually and 1.8 to 2 million ounces (ozpa) annually. Silver in the fourth quarter of 2022.
“Operation in Zone 5 has been temporarily suspended. We’ll provide more updates as appropriate, “said Mark Norwell, managing director of Parenti.
In February, Khomakau said it had recorded a total record-breaking injury frequency of 0.39 per 200,000-man per hour for its safety performance, which began construction from the beginning of January 2019 to the end of January 2022. (Edited by Brian Benzer Reporting David Evans)