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Zambia KCM Starts Operations At $100M Copper Concentrator
Jan 19, 2012 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) --
Zambia's second largest copper and cobalt producer, Konkola Copper Mines, said Thursday it has started operations at a $100 million copper concentrator as it continues expansion projects aimed at achieving annual copper production 400,000 metric tons in the next couple of years.
The new plant, at KCM's Nchanga Integrated Business Unit in Zambia's Copperbelt province, will help improve plant availability and metal recoveries by about 15%, according to company Chief Executive Jeyakumar Janakaraj.
"This new facility will enable KCM to reduce waste, recycle and dispose of all waste products," Janakaraj said in a statement.
KCM is a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources PLC (VED.LN).
The concentrator was commissioned Wednesday by Zambia's mines and natural resources minister, Wilber Simuusa.
A company spokesman further said that KCM is planning an additional $500 million investment in the next few years to expand its asset base as it continues efforts to meet production targets.
Of the $500 million, $200 million will be invested in the Chingola Refractory Ore project and an additional $300 million in other projects, including the upper ore body, which is an expansion for the existing Nchanga underground copper mine, to extend its lifespan, he added.
Since Vedanta took over KCM in 2004, it has invested at least $2.5 billion in various expansion projects including the 300,000 tons-a-year Nchanga Copper Smelter as well as the Konkola Copper Mine deep mine project, which is expected to extend the life span of the mine by at least 35 years.
KCM produced 173,000 tons of copper in 2010 and projected to produce at least 250,000 tons last year.