| Sentinel mine | |
| State/Province: | North-Western Province |
| Country: | Zambia |
| Owner: | First Quantum Minerals |
| Products: | Copper |
| Amount: | 300,000 tons/year |
| Opening Year: | 2015 |
The Sentinel mine is a large copper mine located in north-west Zambia in North-Western Province, part of FQM Trident Ltd.[1]
The mine is owned and operated by Canadian-based First Quantum Minerals, which purchased the rights to the project in 2010,[2] Construction began in June 2012, and the first product was extracted in August 2015, though full-scale production did not begin until November 2016.[3] [4] The mine cost about $2.3 billion to build, and employs about 6,000 people.[4] [3]
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.[2] It is expected to yield about 300,000 tons of copper concentrate annually over a 15-year productive lifespan.[2]