Black Mountain

Location:

Black Mountain Mining (BMM), at Aggeneys in South Africa's Northern Cape Province.

Ownership:

Comprises:

BMM's current operation comprises two underground shafts – Deeps and Swartberg – and a processing plant. BMM is also developing the Gamsberg Project.

The Deeps shaft produces copper, lead and zinc, with silver as a by-product. Annual production is of the order of 102ktpa of zinc-equivalent metal-in-concentrate. Production at Deeps is currently scheduled to cease in around 2020.

The Swartberg shaft produces primarily copper and lead, with silver as a by-product. Annual production is of the order of 13.5ktpa of metal-in-concentrate. Plans are well advanced to deepen Swartberg, which will increase production to 1.6Mtpa of copper and lead ore, and 60ktpa - 70ktpa of metal-in-concentrate, depending on a favourable economic assessment. Further ramp up is planned for the future, taking copper and lead ore production past the 2Mtpa mark.

Production:

BMM mines zinc, lead, silver and copper, hoisting 1.7Mt of ore a year, and has a production capacity of 90,000tpa metal-in-concentrate.

Legacy:

BMM has been in operation since 1980 and was acquired from Anglo American by Vedanta Resources in 2010/2011.

Employees:

BMM is one the largest private sector employers in the Northern Cape, employing around 1,500 people at the current operations, and a further 1,500 people at the Gamsberg Project (employees and business partner employees). Around 80% of BMM's employees are from the Northern Cape, including 60% from the Namaqua district (Khai-Ma and Nama Khoi municipal areas).

Communities:

In 2015, 12 new local businesses were created and commercial opportunities to the value of R7.1 million were provided. Childcare and education support programmes benefit more than 1,800 children at a cost of R6 million per annum. We also support various youth and sports clubs as part of our corporate social responsibility programme.

Future:

In addition to the Gamsberg Project, VZI views the region as highly prospective and is undertaking extensive brownfields exploration to identify addition reserve and resources.