Several promising projects are on the cards for Botswana, which is good news for this landlocked southern African country.According to project experts, there are a couple of decent-sized copper projects on the go as well as some iron ore developments. Extensions to some of the existing diamond mines are also happening, along with several new explorations in the diamond sector.Sandfire Resources recently provided a construction and development update for its 100%-owned Motheo Copper Mine in Botswana following the commencement of open-pit mining in late March when the first pre-strip material was mined.This, the Australian mining and exploration company said, marked an important milestone towards the start of copper production in 2023.Motheo is a substantial new long-life copper mine, and one of the few new copper mines under construction anywhere in the world. It is expected to become the cornerstone of a long-term copper mining hub for Sandfire in the world-class Kalahari Copper Belt.“The start of open-pit mining operations represents an important step on the road to production, and to have achieved this milestone ahead of schedule is a testament to the hard work of our project execution team in Botswana,” said Sandfire MD and CEO, Karl Simich. “In addition to the start of mining, we have also made important progress with the construction of the process plant and other site infrastructure, putting us on track to deliver the first production from Motheo in the first half of 2023.”Manganese projectDuncan Bonnett of Africa House says the country is also looking at a manganese project, considering the pivotal role this metal plays in battery production. Botswana is home to multiple high-grade deposits of manganese which is perfectly suited for use in batteries and electronics.According to Canadian exploration company Giyani Metals, its K.Hill manganese oxide project in Botswana has deposits that are ideally situated, close to both land and maritime infrastructure within Botswana's Kanye Basin. The company is currently completing a feasibility study over the K.Hill project to produce around 120 000 tonnes per year of high-purity manganese sulphate for the EV battery market.Coal issuesOne mineral that is not causing much excitement is coal. According to Bonnett, the commodity is semi-permanently hamstrung by the twin evils of logistics – and more recently, financing.“The coal industry sits between major existing coal producers in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe that all have good operating export channels. It is going to be difficult for Botswana to move its coal to a seaport.”He said moving it out West begged the question of whom the country was planning to sell it to, and going East meant it had to compete with existing mines with efficient logistics operations.“Exporting it via Walvis Bay has seemingly been the most discussed option, but this will require a journey of more than 1000km either by road or rail. The rail would have to be developed. Once loaded it will have to sail around South Africa to the East where the biggest coal markets are; it will just not be competitive from a price point of view.”Too much government involvementWhile Botswana has much in its favour – a stable political environment that is safe and relatively risk-free – one of the challenges with projects has been too much government involvement.“The government keep a very close eye on projects,” said Bonnett. “This is not necessarily negative, but it can be problematic if there is too much involvement from the government. It slows processes down and introduces delays that drive up cost.”Another challenge is power. Like the rest of the region, Botswana simply does not have enough electricity. Earlier this year the country announced it was seeking companies to build and operate a 200-megawatt concentrated solar power plant, the biggest clean energy project to date. The government has undertaken to purchase the electricity produced through the state-owned Botswana Power Corporation.
