Trigon Metals has reached a key milestone at its Kombat copper mine in Namibia, producing an average of 980tpd of ore from its underground operations over a 30-day period.
By exceeding an average production of 900tpd from its underground operations over 30 consecutive days, Trigon has prematurely surpassed the terms of a streaming agreement with metals investment manager Sprott.
The threshold has been met by Trigon 13 months earlier than the contractually required date of 31 October 2025.
Following this result, Trigon has decided to pause its open-pit mining activities from the end of September 2024.
The company stated that the pause is partly due to the “significant grade differential and positive contribution of the underground mining operations when compared to the open-pit operations”.
Additionally, the current milling capacity constraint at the Kombat mine limits plant throughput to 1,000tpd, which in turn leads to the preferential feeding of higher-grade underground ore.
According to Trigon, the company is able to fill any production shortfall through the feeding of existing lower-grade stockpiles until underground production reaches full steady state. It intends to double the mill’s capacity in 2025.
The Kombat underground mine was recommissioned in 2022 following its closure in 2008 caused by underground flooding. Commercial copper production was declared in May 2024.
Trigon chief operating officer and president Rennie Morkel commented: “We have faced significant challenges with the open pit, where stripping requirements have exceeded our forecasts. Pausing open-pit operations will have an immediate positive impact on our operating costs, allowing us to focus on the higher-grade underground ore.”
The Kombat mine is reported to have more than $150m worth of usable infrastructure in place. Trigon aims to grow copper production to 69.8mlb by 2027.
The company holds an 80% interest in five mining licences in Namibia’s Otavi Mountainlands and has additional operations in Morocco.
