adminThe deadline has been extended by a month to allow BNC staff to respond to the offer made to them in respect of monies owed to them through unpaid salaries.
“BNC shareholders approved the rights issue at an EGM held in Harare on 29 June 2012. In parallel to the rights issue process, BNC management has engaged creditors and staff on settlement proposals for the amounts owing to them.
“Creditors have largely accepted the proposals, and the BNC board has extended the rights offer closing date to 31 August 2012 in order to allow additional time for staff to respond to the offer made to them,” said Mwana in a statement.
The company said the funding was conditional upon a satisfactory resolution of issues relating to legacy creditors, staff retrenchment and back pay liabilities.
In February last year, BNC entered an offtake agreement with commodity giant Glencore whereby Glencore would purchase all of the concentrate produced from Trojan.
BNC estimates that the total costs of restarting the mine, presently on care and maintenance, amount to about $33 million.
It is hoped that the $21 million will take the mine into production with revenue generation in the first year of the restart, and a further $12 million would be required in the following year.
Mwana Africa has interests in base metals, precious metals and diamonds in a number of countries such as Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Angola, Ghana and Botswana.
In Zimbabwe, the company also operates Shangani Nickel Mine as well as a smelter and refinery complex.
Due to the strategic importance of BNC, Government recently accorded the miner a National Project Status that will allow duty-free importation of equipment.
Online Reporter