Mowana Mine Reopens, African Copper Posts Profit

WANETSHA MOSINYI
Staff Writer | Monday August 17, 2009 00:00

The company also said it has appointed David Rodier as its new chairman and was confident about the future.

African Copper, which had put its Mowana mine on care and maintenance in January pending completion of financing talks, said it had received $41 million in funding from mining investment firm Zambia Copper Investments Ltd (ZCI).

The recapitalisation would help African Copper's operations to grow to their full potential, the company said.

'Following the ZCI-funded recapitalisation, we look forward to the monetisation of our reserves base through near-term production and sales. Production is planned to commence by the end of August 2009,' Chief Executive Chris Fredericks said in a statement.

For the six months ended June 30, the company posted a pre-tax profit of $45.91 million.

The company said about 29.6 million pounds of previous impairment costs recognised in 2008 were written back to its balance sheet.

'The publication of these results mark the start of a new stage in African Copper's development,' Fredericks said.

The CEO said they now look forward to adding further value to their shareholders by both considering exploration options and through potential acquisitions that might become available and will enhance the value of African Copper's portfolio.

'With what we have achieved and what is now in place, we believe we can look forward to the future with renewed confidence.'

Mowana mine has 83 percent of resources, which the company said would be accessible by underground mining providing at least 20 years' life.

The company said it plans to convert advanced prospect to Mining Licence status at Thakadu deposit whilst extensive exploration at Matsitama tenements 'offer further blue sky potential'.

African Copper was the first local victim of the global credit crunch, which saw prices of base metals on the world markets plummeting. Copper prices dropped from US$7, 000 per tonne at the beginning of the third quarter of last year to US$3, 000 per tonne by the end of that quarter.