Australian mining and exploration company Sand-fire Resources has received a licence for its Motheo copper project in Botswana.
“The grant of the Mining Licence represents the last major permitting milestone required for full-scale construction of the US$279M (A$364M) project to commence, with initial site works already under-way,” the company said in a statement. “Updated Mineral Resource for the satellite A4 deposit expected to be finalised in the coming weeks, forming the cornerstone of the strategy to rapidly expand pro-duction at the Motheo Production Hub from 3.2Mtpa to 5.2Mtpa.”
Most recently, the Australian business awarded a contract for open pit mining services of the T3 pit at the project to African Mining Ser-vices (AMS), a surface mining business of global mining services group Perenti Global Ltd. The contract has an estimated value of about US$496 million.
Sandfire Resources is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).