The Sentinel mine is a large

copper mine Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, loca ...

located in north-west

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

in North-Western Province, part of FQM Trident Ltd. The mine is owned and operated by Canadian-based

First Quantum Minerals First Quantum Minerals is a Canadian-based mining and metals company whose principal activities include mineral exploration, development and mining. Its main product is copper, which accounts for 80% of revenues as of 2016. First Quantum's com ...

, which purchased the rights to the project in 2010, Construction began in June 2012, and the first product was extracted in August 2015, though full-scale production did not begin until November 2016. The mine cost about $2.3 billion to build, and employs about 6,000 people. Sentinel mine has a single reserve of copper ore, measuring an estimated 1.03 billion tons of ore with a copper content of 0.51%, or about 5.2 million tons of pure copper. It is expected to yield about 300,000 tons of copper concentrate annually over a 15-year productive lifespan.

References

{{coord missing, Zambia Copper mines in Zambia