By: Nghiinomenwa Erastus

A truckload containing 31 dry metric tonnes of concentrate, grading 20,41% copper and 265 g/t silver, was delivered at Walvis Bay to be shipped from the newly revamped Kombat Mine.

This is after the company jumpstarted the Kombat a few months ago (in 2021).

The Canadian Trigon Metals Inc company that took over and operated the mine announced in a statement released last week,

The first shipments of copper concentrate were delivered from the mine to IXM warehouses in Walvis Bay, Namibia, during the second last week of February 2021.  

According to the statement from Trigon, the truckload is the first of 400 tonnes of concentrate now produced and stockpiled at the Kombat Mine. 

The rest of the concentrate will be moved to the IXM warehouse and booked as sold this week.

Trigon’s chief executive officer, Jed Richardson, explained that they had met their numerous goals in a fast-moving process. 

He said 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 operate at a steady-state 70% capacity, producing over 35 tons of concentrate per day. 

“We are working our way to a declaration of commercial production,” Richardson indicated.

IXM will make provisional payment for tonnes of copper concentrate delivered to port. 

The provisional payment is 90% of the projected proceeds for the metal content determined by an independent laboratory on-site at the mine. The balance of payment is adjusted on final assays by IXM. 

On May 6, 2021, Trigon announced that 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. 

The company is wholly 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 Inc currently has operations in Namibia and Morocco, owning 80% of Kombat Mine – the flagship operation where production is forecast to grow to over 30 million pounds of copper produced annually using an open pit and underground mining methods. 

The company controls five mining licences in the Otavi Mountainlands, an area of Namibia widely recognized for its high-grade copper deposits. The company is focused on growing production at Kombat through development and further exploration. 

COPPER DOMINATE NAM TRADE

The country composition of the export basket for January 2022 was mainly comprised of minerals with copper, leading others such as uranium, non-monetary gold, and precious stones (diamonds). 

During the month under review, copper blisters were Namibia’s most significant export commodity accounting for 26,6% of total exports mainly destined to China, France, and the Netherlands.

Fish continued to be the only non-mineral commodity within the top five products exported. 

The same trend is observed, on the import side of things, the basket of what the country bought was mainly comprised of copper, followed by petroleum oils, then copper ores and concentrates again.

Copper blisters take the lead with the largest share of 29,6% of all the imported things in the country.

The re-exports basket mainly consisted of copper blisters, which accounted for 53,8%, primarily sourced from Zambia and DRC.

This makes copper, its ores, and concentrate the most traded product for Namibia.