Johannesburg, October 19: Global mining major Vedanta Limited has announced a $600 million investment to expand production in its Gamsberg zinc mine in South Africa. This will double the facility’s annual production capacity to 500,000 tonnes, supporting Vedanta’s global target to reach a total zinc output of nearly 3 million tonnes.
The expanded capacity was inaugurated by Vedanta Director Priya Agarwal Hebbar and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at Gamsberg on October 18.
“We welcome Vedanta’s ambition to establish zinc smelting capacity in the Northern Cape. Government must work with Vedanta and other partners to address their requirements.” Mr Ramaphosa said at the event.
The project involved scaling its open pit mining operational and constructing a second concentrator plant at the Gamsberg site in South Africa’s Northern Cape province. Upon completion, the Gamsberg Phase II mine will treat an additional 4 million tonnes of ore per year, bringing total capacity at the location to 8 million tonnes annually.
Beyond that, the project will boost infrastructure development aimed at lowering its cost per tonne operations through modern automation and green power integration. This expansion will help generate significant direct and indirect employment opportunities while driving economic growth across the surrounding region.
This deployment is part of Vedanta’s broader strategy to establish control over 10% of the global zinc production capacity. By ramping up production capacity in South Africa along with domestic operations in India, Vedanta is looking to meet rising global demand, as zinc remains critical ofr use in galvanizing steel to prevent corrosion across infrastructure, automotive, energy transition and construction sectors.
