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Kazakhstan firm eyes copper , cobalt plants By NKOLE CHITALA
By NKOLE CHITALA and NKWETO MFULA
EURASIA Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC), a mine based in Kazakhstan, is in a process of buying a copper and cobalt processing plant in Zambia for US$300 million.
But Government says it is not aware of the agreement by the Kazakh miner to purchase the cobalt and processing plant in Zambia.
Minister of Mines and Minerals Development Maxwell Mwale said in an interview in Lusaka on Friday that Government has not received any information concerning the agreement.
“No, I am not aware of the agreement,” he said.
However, Chambishi mines chief executive officer Derek Webstock said in a separate interview last Friday that the company is in a process of completing the procedures of handing over the company to a new investor.
“Right now we are in the process of concluding the acquisition of the company,” he said.
Mr Webstock said after the completion of the purchase agreement, the company will be handed over to a new investor whom he did not mention.
Last Thursday, ENRC independent non-executive director Mehmet Dalman told Reuters in a statement that the acquisition of Chambishi accelerates the group’s expansion in copper and cobalt and at a lower cost than would be required for new investment.
Mr Dalman said that the firm hoped to cut costs by using the Chambishi plant to process copper and cobalt produced in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“ENRC is buying Chambishi and a linked marketing operation based in Dubai from three of its main shareholders, but it got an independent opinion regarding the price,” the London-listed group said.
The statement said the firm plans to invest US$80 million in Chambishi by 2011 to upgrade its facilities, which will boost annual capacity to 55,000 tonnes of copper cathode, more than twice its current level of 25,000 tonnes.
“The integrated copper and cobalt mining and smelting businesses of Chambishi and those in the DRC, when combined, should have an improved cost position over time,” ENRC said.
The combined operation is expected to produce 130,000 tonnes of copper cathode a year and 12,000 tonnes of cobalt-contained metal salts and concentrates by 2012.