The country’s base metal exports reached P7.63 billion between January and September 2024, beating the P6.96 billion record seen over the full year in 2023.
The uptick in copper and nickel exports is on the back of rising local production and escalating prices of the metals, which are both eagerly sought after in the global energy transition.
According to the latest figures from the Bank of Botswana, copper and nickel exports were rising steadily each month throughout 2024, peaking at more than P1 billion in May. In the months to September last year, exports averaged P847.4 million, compared to P535.9 million over the same period in 2023. Khoemacau Copper Mine, which put out its first concentrate in June 2021, is finalising plans for a further $700 million expansion which will double its output to 130,000 tonnes by 2026.
The mine snapped up Discovery Metal’s adjacent processor at Boseto and plans to further expand this capacity. Sandfire Resources’ Motheo Copper Mine was commissioned in 2023 at an initial 20,000 tonnes per year, with plans to double up to 40,000 tonnes last year.
African Copper’s former Mowana Mine, now renamed Kopano Copper after a takeover by new investor, Max Power Limited, is also pumping out the base metal in steady volumes. The stronger base metal receipts are helping to ameliorate the general slump in mining activity and revenues seen mainly in the diamond sector since the third quarter of 2023.
According to the latest figures from the Bank of Botswana, copper and nickel exports were rising steadily each month throughout 2024, peaking at more than P1 billion in May. In the months to September last year, exports averaged P847.4 million, compared to P535.9 million over the same period in 2023. Khoemacau Copper Mine, which put out its first concentrate in June 2021, is finalising plans for a further $700 million expansion which will double its output to 130,000 tonnes by 2026.
The mine snapped up Discovery Metal’s adjacent processor at Boseto and plans to further expand this capacity. Sandfire Resources’ Motheo Copper Mine was commissioned in 2023 at an initial 20,000 tonnes per year, with plans to double up to 40,000 tonnes last year.
African Copper’s former Mowana Mine, now renamed Kopano Copper after a takeover by new investor, Max Power Limited, is also pumping out the base metal in steady volumes. The stronger base metal receipts are helping to ameliorate the general slump in mining activity and revenues seen mainly in the diamond sector since the third quarter of 2023.
