Copper 360 has successfully executed the first on-ore blast at Rietberg Mine in the Northern Cape, marking the first such blast in 42 years.
The milestone, reached on January 31, signals the start of Copper 360’s transition from less predictable mine development towards structured hard rock mining, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
Since the reopening of Rietberg Mine in August 2024, the development and commissioning stage required Copper 360 to work through the highly oxidised, unpredictable and lower grade broken rock before being able to target the more structured hard rock resource, containing higher in-situ copper grades, which aligned to its historic drill results and mine plans, it said.
Development at Rietberg Mine would continue over the next nine months, ramping up to full production of about 40,000 tonnes per month expected by the end of the 2025 calendar year.
“This milestone marks another step in Copper 360's aspirations to become a meaningful global copper producer by efficiently exploiting its own vast copper resources in the region,” the group said.
“This marks a pivotal moment for Copper 360 as we shift from an unpredictable phase of broken rock processing to a structured, sustainable hard-rock mining operation,” said CEO Shirley Hayes.
“This transition will provide us with the consistency and reliability needed to achieve our production and financial targets,” she said.
Copper 360 started underground mining operations at Rietberg Mine in August last year. Production started with a target for the first month of 12,000 tonnes and ore is being processed at the Nama Copper modular flotation plant, which it acquired from Mazule Resources.
Rietberg, which was previously closed in 1983 and has a rich history dating back to the early 20th century, holds significant copper reserves.
The resumption of operations will contribute substantially to the local economy, providing employment opportunities and supporting community development initiatives in the Northern Cape region, the group said previously.
Rietberg is the first of a number of historical dormant mines initially developed by Newmont and Gold Fields with defined ore-bodies and established underground infrastructure that Copper 360 plans to reopen in the area as part of its Cluster Mining Model.
The company holds a mining right across 19,000ha where 12 mines and 60 historical prospects have been identified each with its own comprehensive data set.
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