Trojan Mine operations resume

BINDURA – OPERATIONS have returned to full capacity at Bindura Nickel Corporation –
Trojan mine, after 50 days of a forced “hiatus”.
The mine’s General Manager, Thomas Lusiyano, confirmed the development on Wednesday.
“We experienced a mechanical problem in the past 50 days (after the SRV broke down) that
forced us to halt production underground, but we are now back to full operations which is
extremely good for us.
“Experts commissioned the SVR including testing it at different speeds and carrying
development loads. That was completed today (Wednesday), the processing concentrator at
the plant has restarted,” said Lusiyano.
The mine would start exporting concentrate this week since it is back to full operations.
He paid tribute to the mine’s various partners who stood with them during difficult period,
who include major shareholder, Kuvimba Mining House, and bankers who supported them
financially, service providers and employees with their continued trust in the mine
management.
Meanwhile, the mine in a bid to increase production and improve the province and country’s
GDP has acquired new underground mining mobile equipment
The equipment, includes a production rig, face rig, supporting rig, dump truck among others.
Some of the purchased machines are in Durban, South Africa and are expected in the country
by the end of December.
Last year, the mine also bought two support rigs and a tertiary crusher. The mine is not going
to pull out all old mine machines as they will be refurbished.
The cost of purchasing the new mine equipment is around US$15million.
“All this is being done to enable the mine to move from high-volume to low-volume grade
strategy going to the future. From December, going forward we are very optimistic and
confident enough that we will now meet our production targets since the challenges with the
hoist have been resolved.
“Moreover, our underground developments have been lagging behind because there was no
underground equipment to use for development.
“But now with the acquisition of new mining mobile equipment, we now have adequate
machines to undertake production and develop necessary infrastructure underground,” he
said.
The mine was also exploring Kingston Hill, Bindura, and work was in the exploration drilling
phase.
“We are grateful to our major shareholder who already availed funds to kick start the project.
We are consulting with all our stakeholders before we actually commence drilling because
we respect communities that we are operating in,” he explained.
Trojan Nickel Mine is one of the biggest employers in Bindura.
A Sub Vertical Rock Winder (SRV) pulls ore from underground for further processing at the
concentrator plant.

This is the machine that was down at the mine for nearly two months and many being sent
home albeit, on full pay.
About three quarters of the mine’s workforce has been off duty for 50 days.