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PREMIER LUCAS ENDORSES GAMSBERG MINE FOR 3000 JOBS CREATED

Premier Sylvia Lucas with senior managers of Vedanta Zinc International and young professionals
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Northern Cape Premier Sylvia Lucas has endorsed one of the Northern Cape’s topmost mining ventures for having sparked 3000 job opportunities on the outskirts of the town of Aggeneys in the Khai Ma Municipality in the Namaqua district.

The inter-related mining activities at the Gamsberg zinc mine which is worth an investment of six billion rand and its related activities such as the Vedanta Zinc International (VZI) and the Black Mountain Mine (BMM) complex; were inaugurated with a first blast and sod turning ceremony by Premier Sylvia Lucas in July 2015.

“I am very impressed that most of the professionals on the project are young people and that the majority of the employees are either from the Khai Ma municipal area or the surrounding areas in the province,” she was quoted as having said in a joint statement by the Premier’s office and Vedanta Zinc International (VIZ) based on the Lucas’ visit of last week.

She was briefed about future housing developments for mine workers. 109 housing units have already been constructed around the mine and other employee housing constructions are set for Pofadder, Pella and Aggeneys.

Flanked by VIZ’s Vice President Satish Kumar and BMM’s General Manager Andre Trytsman, Premier Lucas also inspected infrastructure developments estimated at 420 million-rand for the supply of water to residents of Pella which formed part of the agreement into the Gamsberg construction projects.

Gamsberg is believed to be South Africa’s largest mining project currently in execution and is based on an ore resource of 214 million tonnes (Mt), which is to be extracted from an open pit at an annual rate of 4Mt. Attempts at its initial resuscitation between 2000 and 2003 were met with fierce resistance by conservationists that complained about the destruction of threatened plant life of Gamsberg and surroundings.