South Africa’s oldest mining district to see copper reboot

South Africa

KIMBERLEY, August 7, 2024 – Copper 360 will restart production at the Rietberg mine in South Africa’s oldest formal mining district, Mining.com reported on Tuesday.

The company plans an initial output of 12,000 tonnes of copper per month from the mine, which will rise to 45,000 tonnes per month over the following four years, the report said.

The mine still holds substantial reserves of an estimated 4.8 million tonnes, with indicated grading of 1.27% copper.

The Rietberg mine is located in the O’Kiep district in North Cape province, the site of the country’s first minerals discovery in the 1660s and home to its oldest formal mining operations.

Copper 360 is a South African copper mining company with operations based in the Northern Cape.

Various forecasts have predicted that global copper demand will soar beyond 30 million tonnes per year by 2030, up from 24.8 million tonnes in 2022.

Photo courtesy of Copper 360.