Sentinel mine
The Sentinel mine is a large copper mine located in north-west Zambia in North-Western Province.[1]
Location | |
---|---|
North-Western Province | |
Country | Zambia |
Production | |
Products | Copper |
Production | 300,000 tons/year |
History | |
Opened | 2015 |
Owner | |
Company | First Quantum Minerals |
The mine is owned and operated by Canadian-based First Quantum Minerals, which purchased the rights to the project in 2010,[2] Construction began in June 2012, and the first product was extracted in August 2015, though full scale production did not begin until November 2016.[3][4] The mine cost about $2.3 billion to build, and employs about 1,800 people.[4][3]
Sentinel mine has a single reserve of copper ore, measuring an estimated 1.03 billion tons of ore with a copper content of 0.51%, or about 5.2 million tons of pure copper.[2] It is expected to yield about 300,000 tons of copper concentrate annually over a 15-year productive lifespan.[2]
References
- "Reserves & Resources". first-quantum.com. 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
- "First Quantum says new Zambia mine, smelter to cost $2.4bn". Mining Weekly. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- "First Quantum Minerals launches $2.1 bln Zambia copper mine". Reuters. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
- "Countries Push to Extract More Cash from Big Mining Companies". The Wall Street Journal. 18 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2018.