By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
ABOUT 1,800 jobs are expected to be created at the First Quantum Minerals’ (FQM) Kansanshi mine, known as the ‘S3 project’ by the second quarter of 2024.
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About 809 jobs had so far reportedly been created for contractors on the construction site.
This was according to the mine’s General Manager, Anthony Mukutuma.
Mr Mukutuma stated that the S3 project would also create permanent jobs for approximately 800 people.
He stated that 140 of them had already been recruited, mainly for mining equipment operators.
“So far, about 809 jobs have been created for contractors on the construction site, and that will build up to about 1,800 by second quarter of 2024,” he told the Mining for Zambia magazine.
FQM in May 2022 reinforced its commitment to Zambia by investing US$1.25 billion in an expansion project at the S3 project.
Giving progress on the project, Mr Mukutuma explained that it should take Kansanshi from the 135,000 tonnes of copper that the mine produced in 2023, to in excess of 250,000 per annum, post expansion.
“Because the design of S3’s plant is based on and incorporates learnings from Sentinel and Cobre Panama’s plants, we expect ramp-up to be quick.
“Based on the current plan, production for 2025 is expected to be in the 170 to 200,000 tonnes range, ramping up to about 180-210,000 tonnes in 2026. The average ore grade will be 0.58 percent copper,” he said.
Mr Mukutuma described the progress at the project as good, saying that the civil and concrete works around the primary crusher, the conveyor corridor, the reclaimed stockpiles and the pebble crushers were almost complete, as it was the work on the milling and flotation area.
“Some of the components (like flotation cells) are coming out of Europe and are being shipped the longer way around [due to conflict in the Suez Canal] so we are anticipating a slight delay of about two weeks, but nothing significant. “We expect to start the assembly of the mills, flotation cells, and the primary crusher early in the second quarter of this year,” he said.
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