Trigon Metals has announced a significant milestone, achieving commercial production from the underground operations at its Kombat Mine in Namibia as of April 30, 2024. This marks a major step forward in Trigon’s goal of becoming a leading mid-tier copper producer.
The company defines commercial production status as operating at 70% of production capacity over 30 consecutive days. After restarting mining operations from the open pit in May 2023, Trigon commenced underground production ahead of schedule, following the first blast and training on February 5, 2024. The transition to commercial production levels has been smooth and exceeded management’s expectations.
Rennie Morkel, President and Chief Operating Officer, congratulated the homegrown, owner-operated underground mining teams, highlighting the achievement as a significant success for the operation, the company, and the community. He expressed optimism about future opportunities to grow underground production, which is expected to increase copper production and profitability.
Jed Richardson, CEO and Executive Chairman, noted the positive impact of increased grades from underground mining on metal production, improving recovery in the mill and raising the grade of the concentrate. Richardson emphasized that the Kombat mine’s long history as an underground operation is now demonstrating its benefits.
The higher-grade ore retrieved from underground operations has increased the company’s metal output. As high-grade underground ore replaces lower-grade open pit ore, copper production is expected to rise, leading to lower operating costs. 
