"The first phase of copper exploration at the mine is scheduled for September of this year, in an area of 2000 square kilometers. With an exploration capacity of 4000 tons of copper/day, with 2500 tons starting in September of this year, the project, whose prospecting began in 2010, includes an open-pit mine and an underground mine," the provincial government of Uíge reported in a statement to which VerAngola had access.
The information was given during a visit that the governor of Uíge, José Carvalho da Rocha, made to the project this Tuesday.
In statements after the visit, cited in the statement, the official considered that the project "represents a challenge to enhance the development of the region and the country in general, aiming at the creation of jobs for the youth."
According to the provincial governor, "actions are underway to rehabilitate the road and seal off ravines along the route," with a view to "facilitating the flow of miners."
José Carvalho da Rocha also considered that we are on the "right track", aiming for this project "to be a flagship for the northern region".
"We are on the right track. We want this project to be a flagship for the northern region", he said.
In this initial phase, work will begin with the operation of the open-pit mine, while the underground mine is expected to begin operations in 2026, according to Rui Lopes, deputy director of the company Shining Star Icarus.
He reinforced that the "underground mine will begin production work in the second half of 2026, and, at the moment, open-pit mining work and the assembly of equipment" to process the extracted minerals are underway.
At the time, the official said that the "open-pit mine will have a total length of one kilometer and a depth that could reach 250 meters", while the "underground mine will have a length of 1630 meters, of which 630 meters have already been drilled, with completion expected in the first half of 2026".
Regarding the investment, Rui Lopes said that the "project has a total investment of 250 million dollars, of which 205 million dollars have already been invested to date".
"The Mavoio and Tetelo project have two exploration licenses, in areas of approximately 3000 square kilometers and another that covers 7000 square kilometers, whose project has 1,080 workers, 708 of whom are Angolans and the rest are expatriates, most of whom are Chinese", the note reads.
It is worth remembering that, in June of last year, the Secretary of State for Mineral Resources, Jânio Correa Victor, had already announced that the Mavoio mine would begin producing copper in 2025.
