Tati Mine too expensive – Russian Ambassador

Government has been urged to acquire Tati Nickel mine from Russian investors as Norilsk nickel withdraws its foreign assets.

Tati Nickel mine which also saw its nickel concentrate declining by 28 percent in the third quarter of 2013 (Q3 2013) is expected to shut down next year putting more than 1200 jobs on the line. Russian ambassador to Botswana, Anatoly Korsun said while there is no final decision on the closure of Tati, Norilsk has decided to withdraw all of its assets from Latin America, Botswana and Australia. “New directorship of Norilsk Nickel took a decision to sell all its foreign assets and use the funds to invest in Russian plants,” Korsun said.

Norilsk is AIM-listed global copper giant with mines in Finland, Australia and Botswana. The global mining giant is also said to have been discouraged by depleting ore at its Tati Nickel mine. “It requires more and more investment,” Korsun said. He said Norilsk Nickel places a huge premium on Tati Nickel as the global miner had appointed one of its best engineers to manage Tati Nickel. “He modernised the factory. All 800 employees were satisfied with the General Manager,” he told Botswana Guardian in an exclusive interview last week.

Production at Tati Nickel has been declining, according to records seen by Botswana Guardian. In Q3 2013, the mine produced 2 100 tones of nickel concentrate, of which 0.9 thousand tonnes were shipped to the Norilsk Nickel Harjavalta refinery. In total, in 2013 Tati Nickel produced 6.2 thousand tonnes in concentrate down 28 percent year on year (y-o-y) owing to lower nickel content in mined ore.

The production of nickel in concentrate by Nkomati (reported on 50 percent basis) in 3Q 2013 decreased 11 percent quarter on quarter to 3 000 tonnes. Records show that in 2013, output reached 9 000 tonnes of nickel in concentrate up 31 percent y-o-y. The increase in production was achieved as result of the successful upgrade of concentration facilities. All nickel concentrate produced by Nkomati was delivered for further processing to the Norilsk Nickel Harjavalta refinery in Finland.

Government had previously indicated that she will carry out a due diligence before deciding on the future of the mine. Efforts to get a comment from Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources and his Permanent Secretary proved futile this week.