Zambia Kansanshi Plans $500 Million Copper Smelter -Executiv

[bingogo]

By Nicholas Bariyo & contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; 256-75-2624615 bariyonic@yahoo.co.uk

Published June 15, 2011

| Dow Jones Newswires

SOLWEZI, Zambia -(Dow Jones)- Zambia's largest copper miner by output, Kansanshi Copper Mines, is planning to build a $500 million copper smelter in the Northwestern Province as it seeks to ease costs and end over reliance on Copperbelt-based smelters, a company executive told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday.

Kansanshi is planning to build a smelter with the capacity to process at least 1.2 million metric tons of copper concentrates a year, Sean Whittome, the company's general manager, told reporters during a mine visit on Tuesday.

"We are currently carrying out a feasibility study for the smelter and we expect our board to give us a go ahead by October," he said.

The smelter would also be able to produce sulphuric acid, helping the company to save money on procurement of the key input in copper production, he said.

Currently, Kansanshi ships its concentrates for treatment at Konkola Copper Mines' Nchanga Smelter and the Chinese-owned Chambishi Copper Smelter, both based in the Copperbelt, around 160 kilometers from Kansanshi.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (FM.T), which owns Kansanshi Copper, is also planning to build the 300,000-ton-a-year Trident Copper Mine in the North Western province, and the two mines could share the smelter, Whittome said.

Currently, at least 60% of the copper produced at Kansanshi is in concentrate form, requiring smelting and refining to produce cathodes. The mine produces 140,000 tons of copper cathode through an electrowinning process that does not require smelting.

As copper production in Zambia continues to rise, concerns are rife that smelting capacity shortages could occur in the next few years, industry officials say.

The company is discouraged from exporting concentrates due to a number of restrictions by the Zambian government, making it vulnerable to any future constraints on smelting in the country, Whittome said.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2 ... z1PJyw8qfp