Trigon Metals Inc. said it has achieved commercial production from the underground operations at its Kombat mine in Namibia. After restarting mining operations from the open pit in May 2023, the company commenced production from underground ahead of schedule, having announced underground training and the first blast on February 5, 2024.
“Re-asserting Kombat as an underground copper-producing mine is a tremendous achievement for the operation, the company and our community,” said Rennie Morkel, president and COO, Trigon Metals. “Going forward we will look for opportunities to grow production from underground, which in turn should increase our copper production and our profitability.”
Underground production has increased the company’s metal output, owing to the higher grade of ore. During March, the Kombat plant processed 25,786 metric tons (mt) at a grade of 1.10% copper and produced 478,619 lb of copper. In January, the plan processed 23,707 mt with a 0.80% grade and produced 372,798 lb of copper. The amount of underground ore processed in March was 6,624 mt with a grade of 2.51%, which had a positive impact on the head grade at the plant.