Location | |
---|---|
District | North-East District |
Country | Botswana |
Coordinates | 21°12′23″S27°46′28″E / 21.2065°S 27.7745°E Coordinates: 21°12′23″S27°46′28″E / 21.2065°S 27.7745°E |
Production | |
Products | Nickel |
History | |
Opened | 1995 |
Closed | 2016 [1] |
Owner | |
Company | Tati Nickel Mining Company (Pty) Ltd |
The Phoenix mine is a large mine in the west of Botswana in the North-East District. Phoenix represents one of the largest nickel reserve in Botswana having estimated reserves of 329.7 million tonnes of ore grading 0.23% nickel. [2] The 329.7 million tonnes of ore contains 0.78 million tonnes of nickel metal. [2]
Francistown Mining and Exploration Ltd was founded in 1985 to develop Phoenix mine and the nearby Selkirk mine. Tati Nickel Mining Company (Pty) Ltd was founded in 1988. Phoenix was opened in 1995. Tati Nickel Mining Company (Pty) Ltd was owned for some time by Norilsk Nickel (85%) and the Government of Botswana (15%). Norilsk agreed to sell its 85% stake to BCL Limited around 2016, but BCL went into liquidation around this time, leading to a legal disagreements between the companies. [3] [4]
Selebi-Phikwe is a mining town located in the Central District of Botswana. It had a population of 49,724 in 2011 which is now estimated to have risen to c.52,000. The town is an administrative district, separate from the surrounding Central District.
Francistown is the second largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 100,079 and 150,800 inhabitants for its agglomeration at the 2011 census. and often described as the "Capital of the North". It is located in eastern Botswana, about 400 kilometres (250 mi) north-northeast from the capital, Gaborone. Francistown is located at the confluence of the Tati and Inchwe rivers, and near the Shashe River and 90 kilometres from the international border with Zimbabwe. Francistown was the centre of southern Africa's first gold rush and is still surrounded by old and abandoned mines. The City of Francistown is an administrative district, separated from North-East District. It is administered by Francistown City Council.
The Tati Concession was a land and mining concession created in the western borderlands of the Matabele Kingdom. The concession was originally granted by the Matabele King, Lobengula, son of Mzilikazi, to Sir John Swinburne in exchange for gold and arms. It was administered by the territory known as the Bechuanaland Protectorate after 1893, but was formally annexed to it in terms of Proclamation Number 2 of 1911 by the High Commissioner of Bechuanaland. It was locally administered by a Justice of the Peace.
Norilsk Nickel, or Nornickel, is a Russian nickel and palladium mining and smelting company. Its largest operations are located in the Norilsk–Talnakh area near the Yenisei River in the north of Siberia. It also has holdings in Nikel, Zapolyarny, and Monchegorsk on the Kola Peninsula, in Harjavalta in western Finland, and in South Africa.
The Shashe River is a major left-bank tributary of the Limpopo River in Zimbabwe. It rises northwest of Francistown, Botswana and flows into the Limpopo River where Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa meet. The confluence is at the site of the Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area.
The mining industry of Botswana has dominated the national economy of Botswana since the 1970s. Diamond has been the leading component of the mineral sector since large-scale diamond production began in 1972 by Debswana. Most of Botswana's diamond production is of gem quality, resulting in the country's position as the world's leading producer of diamond by value. Copper, gold, nickel, coal and soda ash production also has held significant, though smaller, roles in the economy.
The mineral industry of Russia is one of the world's leading mineral industries and accounts for a large percentage of the Commonwealth of Independent States' production of a range of mineral products, including metals, industrial minerals, and mineral fuels. In 2005, Russia ranked among the leading world producers or was a significant producer of a vast range of mineral commodities, including aluminum, arsenic, cement, copper, magnesium compounds and metals, nitrogen, palladium, silicon, nickel and vanadium.
The Thunderbox Gold Mine is a gold mine 41 km south-east of Leinster, Western Australia. It was formerly owned by Norilsk Nickel, which placed it in care and maintenance in 2007, but is now owned by Northern Star Resources.
The Mesa J mine is an iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, 16 kilometres south-west of Pannawonica.
Mineralogy is a mining company owned by Clive Palmer of Queensland, Australia. Mineralogy's mining projects are now producing and generating income.
Nickel mining in Western Australia has been an industry that has had many fluctuations of fortune in its history. Large fluctuations in the world nickel price have seen mines close and reopen on several occasions.
The Goro mine is a large nickel mine in the south of New Caledonia, near the township of Yaté, Prony Bay, in the South Province. It was owned by the Brazilian company Vale, who, after failing to sell it to Melbourne-based New Century Mining in June 2020 sold it to Prony Resources New Caledonia consortium in April 2021. The large mine and plant was opened at Goro in 2010 although it has had frequent problems and stoppages.
The Cawse mine is a mothballed laterite nickel mine near Ora Banda in Western Australia. Cawse has a remnant Proven Reserve of 3.757 million tonnes of ore grading 0.65% nickel for 24,400 tonnes of nickel, as of 31 December 2009.
The Honeymoon Well nickel project is a proposed mining project in the west of Australia in the state of Western Australia. Honeymoon Well represents one of the largest nickel resources in Australia with estimated measured and indicated mineral resources of 173 million tonnes of ore grading 0.67% nickel, for 1.17 million tonnes of contained nickel.
The Selkirk mine is a large mine in the west of Botswana in the North-East District. Selkirk represents one of the largest nickel reserve in Botswana having estimated reserves of 135 million tonnes of ore grading 0.25% nickel. The 135 million tonnes of ore contains 0.3 million tonnes of nickel metal.
The Verkhnekingashskoye mine is a large mine in the north of Russia near Norilsk in the Krasnoyarsk Krai. Verkhnekingashskoye represents one of the largest nickel reserve in Russia having estimated reserves of 484.6 million tonnes of ore grading 0.44% nickel. The 484.6 million tonnes of ore contains 2.16 million tonnes of nickel metal.
The Bugdainskoe mine is a large molybdenum mine located in the south of Russia in Alexandrovo-Zavodsky District, Zabaykalsky Krai. Bugdainskoe represents one of the largest molybdenum reserve in Russia and in the world having estimated reserves of 813 million tonnes of ore grading 0.08% molybdenum, 0.35million oz of gold and 6.2 million oz of silver.
The Tati Goldfields are a mineral-rich band in Botswana and Zimbabwe in southern Africa. The band runs approximately 130 kilometres (81 mi) long by 5 kilometres (3 mi) wide, and crosses the Tati River. It is the southernmost of the gold-bearing bands in the Archaen greenstone (schist) belts of Zimbabwe. It is estimated that between 1866 and 1963 over 200,000 ounces of gold were produced from mines in the Tati Goldfields.
The Beta Hunt Mine is a nickel and gold mine near Kambalda in Western Australia. It is owned and operated by Canadian company Karora Resources through a subsidiary named Salt Lake Mining Pty Ltd. The mining tenement is held by Gold Fields Limited and leased to Salt Lake Mining.