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Zambia
Konkola Mine

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 Location:
Chililabombwe, Zambia

  Address:
Stand M/1408, Fern Avenue
Private Bag KCM (c) 2000
Chingola
Zambia
Phone+260-212-350604
EmailEmail
WebsiteWeb
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  • Overview
  • Owners
  • Geology
  • Mining
  • Processing
  • Production
  • Reserves
  • Costs & Financials
  • Personnel
  • Filings & News

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Overview

StageProduction
Mine TypeUnderground
Commodities
  • Copper
Mining Method
  • Drift & Fill
  • Post Pillar Cut & Fill
  • Room-and-pillar
  • Backfill
Shaft Depth 1,500 m
Production Start1957
Mine Life50 years (as of Jan 1, 2018)
In 2019, ZCCM Investments Holdings Plc (ZCCM) filed a petition in the High Court of Zambia to wind up KCM (‘the Petition’) on “just and equitable” grounds. Subsequently, ZCCM amended the Petition to include an additional ground based on allegations that KCM is unable to pay its debts. ZCCM also obtained an ex parte order from the High Court of Zambia appointing a Provisional Liquidator (‘PL’) of KCM pending the hearing of the Petition. As a result of the appointment of the PL following ZCCM’s ex parte application, the PL is the designated authority for exercising almost all the functions of the Board of Directors, to the exclusion of the Board.

March 23, 2022 - Mines and Minerals Development Minister Paul Kabuswe says the process of appointing a new Konkola Copper Mines provisional liquidator is underway.

Vedanta Resources has not published production numbers since 2019.


Owners

Source: p. 6,92
CompanyInterestOwnership
ZCCM Investments Holdings Plc. 20.6 % Indirect
Vedanta Resources plc. 79.4 % Indirect
Konkola Copper Mines plc (operator) 100 % Direct
Ownership Tree
Vedanta owned 79.4% of the share capital of KCM. The remaining 20.6% was owned by ZCCM Investments Holdings Plc, a Lusaka and Euronext listed company which is 77.53% owned by the Zambian Government and 22.47% publicly held.

Contractors



Deposit Type

  • Sediment-hosted

Source: Source

Summary:

The geological setting of the Zambian Copperbelt is unusual compared to other worldwide copper deposits in that it occurs in sedimentary host rocks that have high carbonate content. The presence of dolomite in the geological sequence effectively eliminates any risk of acid mine drainage. The dominant structural feature of the Zambian Copperbelt is the Kafue Anticline, a Northwest — Southeast striking structure, the core of which is comprised of granite, schist and gneiss of the basement complex.

The Konkola Deposit is a very large copper deposit situated on the northern section of the Copperbelt. The Katangan sediments that contain the copper mineralisation are draped around a core of basement rock. Dips are in the range 15-70 degrees. Relatively continuous grades and thickness commonly occur on a regional scale with local variations being due to areas of structural thickening of the Ore Shale Formation and low grade zones resulting from leaching around faulted ground.

Copper mineralisation in the Ore Shale Formation is typically 2-20 m thick, and is also found in its immediate footwall and hanging wall. Economic grades of mineralisation (approximately 4%TCu) are generally consistent within the stratabound deposit and extend over a 7 km strike length at surface, extending to over 10 km at depth (>1,400m). The deposit is open at depth. The orebody thins out at its eastern extremity due to the development of arenaceous facies within the Ore Shale Formation. To the south-east it is cut by the Luansobi fault zone.

Primary mineralisation is mainly of bornite and chalcopyrite with secondary copper minerals being widespread above the 275 m Level, including chalcocite, malachite, chrysocolla, covellite and azurite. Further, general zonation is from chalcocite near surface to pyrite at depth.

Disturbed ground and minor faulting with throws of less than 10 m are present throughout the deposit.

The Konkola deposit is positioned between two major faults; the Lubengele in the north and the Luansobe in the south. These faults form the main hydrogeological boundaries to the deposit.

The Ore Shale Formation is located between three main aquifers:

Hanging wall aquifer located 30 m to 180 m above the Ore Shale;
Footwall aquifer directly on the Ore Shale contact; and
Footwall quartzite 400 m below the Ore Shale.

The hanging wall aquifer contributes 35% of the water in the mine and mainly comprises carbonate rocks, limestones, dolomites and calcareous sandstones and siltstones, while the footwall aquifers provide 65% of the total water inflow and are composed of siliceous rocks: quartzites, sandstones and conglomerates. As a generalisation, the quantity of water inflow to the mine increases with steepening dip of the stratigraphy due to the development of wider fracture zones.


Mining Methods

  • Drift & Fill
  • Post Pillar Cut & Fill
  • Room-and-pillar
  • Backfill

Source: p.56-57

Summary:

The Konkola mine is situated about 26 km north of Chingola and is the most northerly of KCM’s Copperbelt mines. These mining operations currently exploit the Kirila Bombwe ore body by underground methods and have historically been focused on two existing shaft systems, the Kirila Bombwe South ore body (the “No. 1 shaft”) and the Kirila Bombwe North ore body (the “No. 3 shaft”). Additionally, in June 2006, KCM commenced sinking of the No. 4 shaft in the Kirila Bombwe South ore body as part of the KDMP. The No. 4 shaft lies approximately 130 metres due north of the No. 1 shaft. The mid-shaft loading station of the No. 4 shaft was commissioned in April 2010. The mid-shaft loading station of the No. 4 shaft was commissioned in April 2010. Construction of the bottom shaft sinking, which included the continued development of the No. 4 shaft to a design depth of approximately 1,500 metres, was completed during fiscal year 2012.

The operating units at the Konkola mine are the underground mine (No. 1 shaft, No. 3 shaft and new No. 4 shaft, along with a number of ventilation shafts as well as the pipe shaft) and the Konkola east and west concentrators.

The dominant features of the mine are the Kirila Bombwe Anticline in the southeast and the Konkola Dome in the northwest. The ore body in the No. 1 shaft area lies on the southern flank of the Kirila Bombwe Anticline and has an average thickness of about nine metres. The No. 1 shaft ore body generally strikes to the northwest-southeast and dips steeply southwest. It has a strike length of approximately 4,000 metres with an average dip of 50 degrees. The ore body at the No. 3 shaft lies across the axis of the Kirila Bombwe Anticline and has an average thickness of 13 metres. The dips at the No. 3 shaft generally range from 15 degrees to 55 degrees. The ore body at the No. 3 area has been traced to a depth of 1,100 metres and is open-ended at that depth.

Mine developments consist of primary and secondary developments at both the No. 1 and No. 3 shafts. Primary developments involve mining haulages, drain drives, access ramps, footwall ventilation raises and rock passes on main levels. Secondary development includes the mining of drives, crosscuts and raises in ore and waste on the sublevel to prepare the ore body for stoping. The mining operations are constrained by the necessity to de-water from both hangingwall and footwall aquifers at an overall pumping rate of approximately 350,000 m3 per day.

The ore body limits are defined by mining as well as diamond drilling on a 30 metres by 30 metres pattern. The stope limits are contained within the ore body defined using a 1.0% total copper cut-off. Other stope dimensions are worked out using geomechanical properties of the rocks.

Mining methods employed at the Konkola mine include overcut and bench drift and fill, post pillar cut and fill and longitudinal room and pillar. The total rock hoisting capacity at the Konkola mine is 645 kilo tonnes per month (“ktpm”) which comprises 160 ktpm from the No. 1 shaft, 135 ktpm from the No. 3 shaft and 350 ktpm from the No. 4 shaft. On reaching the surface run of the mine (“RoM”) ore from the No. 1 shaft is conveyed via conveyor belt directly to the Konkola concentrator and the RoM ore from the No. 3 shaft is transported three km to the Konkola concentrator using 85 tonne off-highway trucks.


Crushing and Grinding
Source: Subscription required


Processing

  • Flotation

Source: Source

Summary:

The 6 mtpa Konkola concentrator processes RoM ore sourced from the Konkola underground mine using froth flotation to produce copper concentrate for smelting at the smelter in Nchanga. RoM ore hoisted from the new No. 4 shaft, through the mid- shaft loading station is transported to the plant through conveyor belts.

The 6 mtpa concentrator comprises two streams of 3 mtpa. KCM commissioned the first stream of 3 mtpa in October 2008 and the second stream of 3 mtpa in February 2010. The Konkola concentrator utilises SAG & Ball mill comminution and beneficiation by froth flotation processing. The nominal capacity of the milling circuit is 6.6 mtpa, which with a 10.0% design allowance yields a maximum milling capacity of 7.3 mtpa.

The crushed RoM ore is fed directly into the concentrator ’s SAG mill with final milling being performed in the Ball mill prior to flotation. The concentrates are thickened and filtered to produce a final concentrate with a grade of approximately 36.0% to 40.0%.

The concentrates are then transported 30 km southwest of Chililabombwe by road to the Nchanga smelter in Chingola. Approximately 60.0% of the residual tailings from the concentrator are thickened and pumped straight to the Lubengele tailings dam situated approximately 4.5 km north of the plant, while approximately 40.0% of the tailings are pumped to the backfill plant to produce backfill for underground mining operation.

Recoveries & Grades:

CommodityParameter20172016
Copper Head Grade, % 3.13.25

Production:
Konkola & Nchanga production numbers were reported jointly in 2019.

CommodityProductUnits201920182017201620152014
Copper Metal in concentrate t 91,135 *37,31636,10049,44840,21745,891
Copper Concentrate kt 187*107101137110132
* Combined production for Konkola Mine and Nchanga Mine

Operational Metrics:

Metrics2019201820172016201520142013
Ore tonnes mined 4,007,474 t1,405,064 t1,302,389 t1,676,592 t1,426,782 t1,815,854 t2,197,094 t
Annual milling capacity 6 Mt6 Mt
Tonnes processed 1,302,389 t1,677,116 t

Reserves at December 31, 2019:

CategoryTonnage CommodityGrade
Proven & Probable 140.3 Mt Copper 1.07 %
Measured & Indicated 103.2 Mt Copper 2.69 %
Inferred 265.6 Mt Copper 3.36 %

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnits20192018
Cash costs Copper USD 2.76 / lb   2.39 / lb  



Heavy Mobile Equipment:

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
Director of Operations Moses Chilambe LinkedIn Sep 8, 2022
Engineering General Manager Cornelius Chimbanga LinkedIn Sep 8, 2022
Engineering Superintendent Sylvester Hachuka LinkedIn Sep 8, 2022
General Manager Andrew Mukupa LinkedIn Sep 8, 2022
Project Manager Chafilwa Bwalya LinkedIn Sep 8, 2022
Refinery Manager Raymond Muleya Cheeba LinkedIn Sep 8, 2022


Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
Integrated Report 2022
Other 2022
Annual Report 2019
Other 2019
Annual Report 2018
Annual Report 2017
Annual Review 2017
Annual Review 2016
Project Description 2012
Technical Report 2005

Aerial view:

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