Perenti to partner with Sandfire Resources at the Motheo Project in Botswana

Perenti is pleased to announce its surface mining business in Africa, African Mining Services (AMS), has been awarded the contract for open pit mining services at the Sandfire Resources Motheo Copper Project (Motheo) in Ghanzi, Botswana.

The contract, which is yet to be finalised, has an estimated value of US$496 million (A$648 million at 100% basis) over an initial term of seven years and three months with a provision for a one-year extension.

Under the terms of the Mining Services Contract, AMS will identify a suitable local Botswana company or companies as a Joint Venture partner for the project and transition to the joint venture before the commencement of mining in early 2022.

Perenti Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mark Norwell said Motheo represents a game changing growth opportunity for AMS and will substantially increase Perenti’s presence in Botswana, one of the world’s most attractive mining jurisdictions, ranked the eleventh most attractive region for global mining investmenti and holds Africa’s strongest credit rating of BBB+ from S&P.

“Partnering with Sandfire is a great opportunity and collectively we share a strong commitment to the creation of shareholder value while demonstrating the highest standards of safety, responsibility and sustainability. We look forward to demonstrating our capabilities as we deliver on our commitments at the Motheo Project.

“Growing our footprint in Botswana is aligned with our 2025 strategy, to further expand into stable mining jurisdictions and pursue quality projects. The benefit of adding Motheo to the Perenti project portfolio is the opportunity to leverage our existing in-region operational presence at Zone 5 as well as partnering with Sandfire to develop Botswana’s next large-scale, highly productive, world-class copper mine.

“The Motheo project is another positive step in the ongoing transformation of our AMS business as we seek to create value and certainty for our client Sandfire and the Ghanzi community.” Mr Norwell added.

Mining Chief Executive Officer Paul Muller said: “We are committed to creating a lasting, positive legacy in Botswana and we expect the Motheo project will create a significant number of high-quality employment opportunities and generate social and economic value for local and regional communities of Botswana. Through this commitment and the establishment of a local joint venture partnership, we expect that more than 95% of the workforce will be citizens of Botswana.

“Furthermore, and leveraging our existing Maun based state-of-the-art mining training centre, our workforce will have access to the latest mining techniques and technology to enable the creation of a safe, highly skilled and productive workforce to support economic growth and diversification within Botswana.

“We are also excited by the opportunity to deploy future-focussed mining technology initiatives on this project that will not only provide expected productivity and safety benefits to Sandfire but are also aligned with helping to achieve our combined sustainability goals.”

Read the ASX release here.