28 June 2011
MINES and Minerals Development minister Maxwell Mwale has said the underground mining operations at Albidon’s Munali Nickel Mine that shut operations a week ago will remain suspended for the next three weeks.
Mr Mwale said operations at the mine were suspended after ventilation problems that were experienced in the underground section of the mine.
The minister said ventilation fans at had to be switched off after a sink hole was discovered to have caused the fault.
Miners were evacuated for safety reasons and no injuries were recorded.
“Other operations including the concentrator would remain fully operational to maximise on the stockpiles of the metal that they had been pulled out of the mine in recent weeks,” he said.
Nickel Mine Assistant General Manager, Tony Weber was explained earlier that operations were suspended on June 18 for safety reasons.
This was after some faults were detected in the ventilation process which could have affected underground production of nickel metal.
“We’ll be closed for about three weeks and for now we are expecting other mine experts to come and assess the situation,” he said.
He said the mine recently experienced work stoppage by the workers who demanded improved conditions of service.
Management obliged and gave workers about 12 per cent across the board among other conditions.
Munali nickel was expected to produce 900,000 tonnes per annum this year and increase to 1.2 million tonnes from next year Albidon mine has about 50 percent equity owned by China’s Jinchuan Group Minerals Limited and according to expert’s projections.
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Albidon Nickel Mine Ops to Remain Suspended for Next Three Weeks