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February 2015
MODERN MINING
11
MINING News
African Copper signs loan agreement
ore from Thakadu. The company intends
mining ore at Mowana open pit that is
substantially exposed from recent waste
stripping activities, whichwill allow for cop-
per production beyond July 2015 which is
the estimated date at which the reserves at
Thakadu are estimated to be depleted.
Says African Copper: “These actions
give the business the highest prospects
of getting through the current difficult
market conditions and also a limited
window of opportunity for restructuring
the business for long term sustainabil-
ity. The board recognises the significant
mineral resources the company owns
at Mowana and Thakadu, on which the
basis of a new life of mine plan is currently
being prepared.”
Kinsevere pushes up its production by 12 %
Annual production at MMG’s Kinsevere
mine in Katanga in the DRC increased
12 % in 2014 to achieve new annual cop-
per production and sales records. Full year
production at Kinsevere of 69 624 tonnes of
copper cathode was well above production
guidance of 63 000 to 68 000 tonnes. Costs
were also within guidance.
This result was assisted by an excellent
fourth quarter, with production of 18 897
tonnes of copper, which was 17 % higher
than during the same period in 2013.
Mining rates and mill throughput increased
by 17 % and 6 % respectively when com-
pared to the previous quarter.
Kinsevere General Manager Miles Naude
said that the outstanding result was a reflec-
tion of the operation’s dedicated team and
continuing focus on operational excellence.
“Our team has worked diligently
throughout 2014 to sustainably increase
mining and milling rates. Such an outstand-
ing result – a 12 % increase in production
during just the second full year of MMG
ownership of Kinsevere – is a reflection of
these efforts.”
African Copper plc, an AIM-quoted mining
company focused on Botswana, has signed
a further secured loan facility of US$4,5
million from its controlling shareholder,
ZCI. The purpose of the ZCI facility is to pro-
vide the company with additional working
capital as a result of difficult market con-
ditions and associated cash flow shortfalls
caused primarily by lower than planned
production levels at its Thakadu mine.
In light of the prevailing market con-
ditions and more specifically the recent
fall in the copper price, African Copper is
currently conducting a review of its opera-
tions in order to consider various short and
long term strategies to address the group’s
current and future funding requirements.
As part of this ongoing review, the
board is implementing efficiency and cost
optimisation measures to improve liquid-
ity and has taken the decision to suspend
waste stripping activities at the Mowana
open pit, with a strategy in the short term
to focus on the remaining extraction of