JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – TSX-listed Katanga Mining is on track with plans to start commissioning its whole ore leach (WOL) project during the second half of this year, as work continues on design optimisation and construction according to the defined project plan.

The Democratic Republic of Congo-focused copper and cobalt miner on Thursday said its openpit mining operations would continue to focus on waste mining and remediation activities, as the processing of copper and cobalt remain suspended.

Owing to the production shutdown, which would resume following the commissioning of the WOL project, no copper or cobalt metal was produced for sale in 2016; however, the current life-of-mine continued to be optimised to “ensure the appropriate blend” will be supplied to the WOL project process when complete, thus maximising copper and cobalt recovery and minimising operating costs a unit, the company said in a year-end production update to shareholders.

“The revised mining plan aims to secure sufficient ore availability for processing once the suspension of copper and cobalt processing ends, while minimising costs during the suspension period,” Katanga pointed out.

During the year ended December 31, 2016, Katanga continued the ongoing engineering design optimisation on the pre-leach, leach and post-leach circuits, with “satisfactory progress” made on the earthworks and civil works, as well as construction of the steel structures.

Site excavation, civil work and the procurement of various long-lead items, besides others, incurred capital expenditure of about $81.2-million during the year under review.

In 2016, Katanga reported a 79.7% year-on-year decrease in waste mined, with incidental ore of 825 t mined at the KOV openpit mine during waste mining.

During the year under review, the company also commissioned one CAT 6060 shovel and three CAT 793 haul trucks, as well as one CAT fuel truck and one CAT service truck at the KOV openpit mine.

“Various initiatives relating to cost base reduction, consumable inventory reductions, staff training and process improvements are expected to continue to be developed and implemented,” Katanga concluded.