A more stable political climate in the Democratic Republic of Congo has enabled
Peace began settling in the war-torn country after President Joseph Kabila, who succeeded his assassinated father, announced plans to appoint a new cabinet and hold elections as soon as possible. This is also serving to revive the mining industry.
Essentially, the new deal dramatically cuts up-front payments while providing more time for a feasibility study and the arranging of project financing.
“This is a major milestone in our ownership of this superb asset,” American Mineral Fields President Tim Read stated in a release.
Now, about US$203 million must be paid to state-owned Gcamines over the life of the project, instead of US$130 million between the deal’s signing and the start of commerical production. However, US$25 million must be paid on receipt of a presidential decree.
Gcamines will own a 40% interest in the project, with the remainder split evenly between American Mineral Fields and Anglo American.
Also, the project is to be developed in stages, with initial production of 42,000 tonnes copper and 7,000 tonnes cobalt. The previous agreement called for production of 75,000 tonnes copper and 7,000 tonnes cobalt.
The Kolwezi tailings are held in two dams that contain 112.8 million tonnes in situ, grading 1.49% copper and 0.32% cobalt. The calculation does not employ a cutoff grade and is based on dry-density estimates.
The Kingamyambo dam is the smaller of the two, with 42.3 million tonnes built up to a height of 20 metres. The Musonoi dam actually represents the discharge into the river valley of the same name. It holds about 70.5 million tonnes, which, coincidentally, have wreaked havoc on the countryside.
Preliminary studies showed recovery rates of about 90% for copper and 70% for cobalt.
American Mineral Fields intends to secure a presidential decree and complete a feasibility study by year-end. This should allow for startup by 2004.
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