Maravi

KCM completes sinking phase of KDMP’s shaft 4

KCM completes sinking phase of KDMP’s shaft 4
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Fri 01 July 2011, 04:00 CAT

KONKOLA Copper Mines says it has completed the sinking phase for the new shaft 4 at its flagship Konkola Deep Mining Project. This is one of the major milestones in the overall KDMP project that is expected to lift total finished copper production to more than 400,000 tonnes in the next few years. The shaft has been sunk to a depth of 1,505 metres in Zambia’s Chililabombwe border town.

Vedanta Resources Group chief executive officer Mahendra Singh Mehta said during the last blast which marked the completion of the sinking phase for the shaft to 1,505 metres that the occasion marked a remarkable accomplishment for KCM and Zambia.

“This is a major milestone in the mine's history and we are very excited about the project,” Mehta said.

With the sinking completed, the next phase of the project will be the equipping of the shaft.

KCM Jeyakumar Janakaraj said Vedanta Resources had shown unrelenting commitment to continue with the execution of the project even in challenging times when the copper prices had slumped.

The implementation of KDMP project continued during recent global economic crisis when several mining companies suspended their projects.

KDMP general manager Raj Kulkarni said the project, which had been on the drawing board for several decades, had culminated into the first major shaft to be sunk since Zambia’s independence in 1964.

The shaft 4 is Zambia’s deepest and has the largest hoisting capacity in southern Africa. Its sinking was concluded after all 22 project milestones were achieved on schedule.

Eugene Erasmus, the chairman for GLTA contractor company, described the sinking of the shaft during the blasting ceremony as a challenging feat, which has only been accomplished due to a strong partnership his company has created with KCM and a focus by the KCM management to foster teamwork.

Labels: KCM, MINING, VEDANTA

posted by MrK @ 5:05 PM