Name of the Project
Mokala manganese mine optimisation project.

Location
The project is situated on the remaining extent of the farm Gloria 266, located 4 km north-west of Hotazel in the Joe Morolong local municipality, in Northern Cape, in South Africa.

Project Owner/s
Mokala Manganese, in which Ntsimbintle Holdings owns 51% and Glencore 49%.

Ntsimbintle obtained the exploration and mining rights, Glencore is the project’s technical partner.

Project Description
The Mokala mine is in the construction and operational phase of the project.

Current approved activities and infrastructure at the mine site include the expansion of opencast activities in a westerly and northerly direction; a dry crushing and screening plant; waste-rock dumps; product and run-of-mine (RoM) stockpiles; topsoil stockpiles; and mine-related facilities, such as workshops, stores and various support infrastructure and services.

Additional approved activities include the realignment of the R380 road, upgrading the intersection to the mine and realigning a section of the Gamagara drainage channel within the existing river channel.

The mine expects to be producing more than one-million tonnes of manganese ore a year, with an opencast life-of-mine of more than ten years. Beyond its opencast activities, additional resources are available underground.

Mokala Manganese is proposing to amend the approved mine layout to optimise its mining operations.

It proposes to expand the openpit, increase the capacity of the waste-rock dumps, establish additional stockpiles, relocate stormwater management infrastructure, increase the capacity of product stockpiles (lower- and higher-grade RoM), and mine the barrier pillar between the Kgalagadi and Mokala mines.

Potential Job Creation
The majority of the mine’s 357 employees and contractors are sourced from the immediate communities.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
None stated.

Capital Expenditure
None stated.

Planned Start/End Date
Site establishment began at Mokala in May 2020, amid the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Ore was extracted for the first time on March 19, 2021.

With mining ramping up, the new Mokala manganese mine aims to be at steady-state production by the third quarter of 2021.

Latest Developments
Mokala mine intends to establish a solar-powered, renewable-energy supply in the near term that will decrease its carbon footprint.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
SLR Consulting (environmental authorisation process).

Contact Details for Project Information
Ntsimbintle Holdings, tel +27 87 845 1368.
Glencore, tel  +41 41 709 2000 or email info@glencore.com.