Kalumines
Encyclopedia
Kalumines is a copper mining property that includes the Kasonta, Lupoto and Niamumenda concessions, with a combined area of 77 square kilometres (29.7 sq mi). It is about 25 kilometre northwest of Lubumbashi
Lubumbashi
Lubumbashi is the second largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, second only to the nation's capital Kinshasa, and the hub of the southeastern part of the country. The copper-mining city serves as the capital of the relatively prosperous Katanga Province, lying near the Zambian border...

 in Katanga Province
Katanga Province
Katanga Province is one of the provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was Shaba Province. Under the new constitution, the province was to be replaced by four smaller provinces by February 2009; this did not actually take place.Katanga's regional...

, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Start-up

TEAL Exploration & Mining became owner of 60% of the property while the state-owned Gecamines
Gécamines
Gécamines, or La Générale des Carrières et des Mines, is a state-owned mining company in the Democratic Republic of Congo . Its principal products are copper , cobalt and zinc...

 owned the other 40%.
Informal miners were active on the Kalumines property until early 2006, but they were peacefully removed.
TEAL employed over 600 local people, including some of the former informal miners, on the phase one mine.
The company initiated social investment projects that included water supply, transport and medical services for the local population of about 10,000 people, as well as the upgrade and construction of roads.

Operation

TEAL announced that mining had started at Lupotu in May 2007 at a rate equivalent to 10,000 tons of copper per year in concentrate. Teal was in the process of commissioning their furnace to produce black copper ingots, with the capacity to handle rather more than half the concentrate. A feasibility study on a larger open pit mine was being prepared.
As of 2008 the property was estimated to have annual production capacity of 10,000 tonnes of copper.

Expansion plans

TEAL is a subsidiary of African Rainbow Minerals
African Rainbow Minerals
African Rainbow Minerals is a mining company based in South Africa. Patrice Motsepe is chairman; André Wilkens is CEO.ARM has interests in a wide range of mines, including platinum and PGMs, iron, coal, copper, and gold. ARM's Goedgevonden coalmine near Witbank is a flagship of their joint venture...

 (ARM).
In their 2011 annual report, (ARM), which had acquired a stake in the property, described it as being in the "exploration to feasibility" phase of development.
ARM was investigating the property through a 50-50 joint venture with the Brazilian mining giant Vale, with the joint venture owning 60% of the property.
Indicated resources were 780,000 tonnes of contained copper at Lupoto.
In addition, inferred resources at this and the other sites in the property were about 600,000 tonnes of contained copper.
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