At Kagem, the primary operations are Chama, Chibolele, and Fibolele.
The operations comprise the following:
• Chama, an open-pit mine extending over 2.2 kilometres of strike length;
• Chibolele, an open-pit mine with a strike length of 520 metres;
• Fibolele, an open-pit mine with a 600-metre-long strike length.
Conventional open pit mining using drill-blast-load-haul methods is done with Kagem-owned in-house fleet and contractor-provided labour. The mining fleet comprises 20 excavators feeding 40 articulated dump trucks (“ADTs”) with additional supporting ancillary equipment. Ore stockpiling has been introduced to cater for variable ore production.
The steeply dipping reaction zones (RZs) are mined using manual intensive methods with the assistance of hydraulic excavators under close supervision during daylight hours. All large and high-quality coloured gemstones are handsorted at the mining face and are placed in a drop safe-type container that is tagged and closed with security-controlled locks. The remaining RZ material is loaded into trucks and transported directly to the processing facility.
The Chibolele operation comprises two historically mined open pits, the Mbuva and Chibolele pits, with most of the production coming from Chibolele. Production is targeted from three production points, M1, M2 and M3.
Mining activities at Libwente and Fibolele pits remained closed since 2020.
The mining ........
