Indian miner Vedanta has announced that it has approved the second phase expansion of the Gamsberg zinc project in South Africa. Gamsberg is nearly 30 kilometers from Black Mountain Mining (BMM) in the Northern Cape. The second-phase expansion of the Gamsberg project is expected to cost $466 million.

Vedanta owns a 69.6% majority stake in the project, South African BEE firm Exxaro Resources owns 24.4% and ESOP holds 6%. The capacity of the operation is expected to increase by 200ktpa MiC Zinc, which is almost double the previous 4 million tonnes (Mtpa) of ore output to 8Mtpa. In addition, the expansion project will provide socio-economic benefits and make Vedanta Zinc the largest zinc producer in South Africa.

Vedanta also approved a $348 million investment in its subsidiary ESL Steel for plans to expand its steel project to a capacity of 3Mtpa. The project also includes a blast furnace with an additional capacity of 1050m3, supported by a 0.5Mtpa coke oven, a 1.8Mtpa pellet plant, and an 800TPD oxygen plant. The expansion will include other ancillary facilities and infrastructure upgrades, including rail siding to the head of the plant, and a new 0.18Mtpa ductile iron pipe plant. Keywords: engineering construction, engineering news

Additionally, Vedanta announced a $687 million capital expenditure investment in Cairn Oil & Gas to increase near-term production through infill wells, development and exploration. The company has allocated US$360 million for infill wells in Mangala, Bhagyam, Aishwariya, Aishwariya Barmer Hill, Ravva and other fields. In addition, it will dedicate $327 million of the total investment to an exploration work plan for the OALP block and PSC block, including shale test wells.Editor/XingWentao