- has paid P225m in taxes over the last 12 months
- Project capital cost finalised at US$412.4m
Khoemacau Copper Mine says it expects to add P1 billion in tax collections for the government annually over the 21 years of its life once it reaches full output capacity.
According to the mine, it has paid P225 million in taxes over the last 12 months, contributing significantly to the Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) collections. According to the 2022/23 budget speech BURS was assigned to collect approximately 70 percent of the national budget, with the tax revenue collections amounting to P46.433 billion amongst other revenues collected by the BURS. As at the end of May 2022, Commissioner General Jeanette Makgolo said the revenue collection for the financial year 2022/23 stood at P8.55 billion, surpassing the P7.74 billion targeted for the period by P814 million or 10.52 percent.
In comparison to the corresponding period of 2021/22, the current overall revenue collections represent an increase of P2.26 billion or 35.84 percent. Much of this improvement in tax collections during the months of April and May was attributed to a rebound in the minerals industry. During the first quarter of this year, Statistics Botswana observed a significant increase in the real value added to GDP by Mining & Quarrying (23.2 percent). The agency found that this was mainly influenced by a substantial increase in the Diamond and Coal real value added by 24.0 and 6.0 percent respectively.
Diamond production in carats went up by 25.0 percent in the quarter under review,” Statistics Botswana noted. “Coal production in tonnes rose by 6.0 percent. Rough diamond appetite is gradually gaining traction after the relaxation of the COVID -19 travel restrictions which impeded on the sight holding calendar. Regarding coal, there is improved uptake at Morupule Power Station.” While Statistics Botswana mentioned the improvement by diamond and coal, BURS noted that tax collections were also boosted by Khoemacau mine production.
Operating in the emerging but highly prospective Kalahari Copper Belt in the mining friendly region of Botswana, Khoemacau holds 168Mt of high grade resources at 2.09 percent copper (Cu) and 27.5g/t silver (Ag) with production scaled from 60ktpa to >130ktpa and from 2Mozpa to 5Mozpa of Cu and Ag metal in concentrate, respectively, across a 20+ year mine life. Production of the first copper silver concentrate from its Boseto process plant was achieved in June last year with the first shipment of concentrate in July 2021. The company expects to achieve full production rate towards the end of 2022. The project capital cost has been finalised at US$412.4 million, which compares very favourably with the 2018 project budget of US$397.1 million.
