Search for Tati Nickel buyers suspended
Chakalisa Dube | Friday May 17, 2019 12:17
Tati Nickel, a bastion of Francistown’s economy, shut down in October 2016 as part of the collapse of the BCL group, due generally to high operating costs, low base metal prices and heavy indebtedness.
In February, Minerals minister, Eric Molale told Parliament that 47 offers had previously been received for Tati Nickel but all had failed to meet the grade.
On Wednesday, Dixon-Warren said his last attempts to find investors for Tati were in December.
“At the moment TNMC can only be viable when BCL is fully operational. “If BCL is operational, the ore material from Tati Nickel will then be smelted at a smelter operated by BCL which would help bring operational costs to a very reasonable level. “If an investor buys TNMC and resorts to smelting the nickel from the mine at other facilities, which will inevitably be outside the country, this would not be viable owing to transport costs and that of other logistics.”
Dixon-Warren added: “The mineral deposits at TNMC are of very low quality hence buying the mine and smelting the ore material at other facilities other than BCL would be very costly. “It would not make businesses sense.” The liquidator said investors interested in re-starting Tati had all expressed concern about taking the Mine over when BCL was not fully operational.
“At the moment (looking at copper and nickel prices) the ideal thing will be for the buyer of the mine to buy both TNMC and BCL,” he said.
Parliamentarians and other politicians have sharply criticised the liquidator accusing him of dragging his feet in finding takeover investors for entities within the BCL group. Dixon-Warren is battling government over funding of the liquidation process, although reports indicate relations between the two sides are defrosting.