Name of the Project
Rietberg mine and processing expansion project.

Location
About 22 km north of Springbok, in South Africa’s Northern Cape.

Project Owner/s
Primary copper producer Copper 360 Limited. 
 
Project Description
Rietberg is the first mine owned by Copper 360 to be developed in the Northern Cape in more than 40 years. Rietberg will form part of Copper 360’s multimine model, a strategy to develop further mines, similar to Rietberg, with the potential of shared processing infrastructure. 

Rietberg was an underground operation active in the 1970s. Ore was transported to Nababeep for processing. The mine closed in 1981, owing to other deposits, closer to and more economical, to the Nababeep plant and smelter. 

The project has a measured and indicated mineral resource of 6.8-million tonnes grading at 1.2% copper for 81 200 t of copper metal. 

It comprises the development of the Rietberg mine with the establishment of a centralised copper concentrate processing capacity of 540 000 t/y in the near term. 

At steady state, current operations are expected to produce about 5 000 t/y of copper metal.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
Not stated.

Planned Start/End Date
Copper 360 reported the delivery of first copper concentrate in April 2024 and delivered 1 054 t of copper for the 2025 financial year. 

Latest Developments
The company is now ready to progress to the next phase of mine development and expansion as part of its multimine growth strategy in the Northern Cape.

The company has strategically advanced partial development of the Rietberg mine, focusing on recovering low-grade, broken ore from legacy glory hole stock, which contains about 680 000 t grading 0.9% copper. To date, 95 000 t have been recovered between the lower levels, with the 850 level being equipped as the main loading level accessing the loading bays. 

Preparations to equip the 400 level upper block, which accesses the high-grade dyke between the 350 level and surface, are advancing in parallel with supporting infrastructure development, including a trackless mobile machinery maintenance workshop and stores.

Copper 360 has completed the conversion of its mobile flotation plant, originally engineered for furnace slag, to process run-of-mine mafic ore. This involved targeted modifications to the milling and flotation circuits, leading to sulphide recoveries that consistently surpass 90%.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Copper 360, email info@copper360.co.za.