adminresources three years from now.
Africa’s only integrated nickel miner successfully completed a US$23 million recapitalisation for the restart of Trojan Mine late last month.
And in the meantime BNC will export nickel concentrate under an offtake agreement with commodity trader Glencore International.
BNC requires a total of US$33 million to attain a positive cash generating stage and achieve annual production level of 7 000 tonnes of concentrate.
Chief operating officer Mr Batirai Manhando told The Herald Business that a total of US$200 million would satisfy the firm’s needs.
“But where do you get that kind of money in Zimbabwe (considering) it took us three years to raise US$21 million,” said Mr Manhando.
He said the firm might reconsider its plans and raise the funding earlier if nickel prices kept firming on the international market.
Mr Manhando said the smelter and refinery enhances the value of the mineral concentrate from 10 percent nickel to 99,9 percent.
The firm seeks to raise an additional US$13 million to fund operations in the second year following restart of operations at Trojan. Mr Manhando said the company was looking at several options of raising the requisite funding and this included debt financing.
The restart of Trojan Mine is already in full swing and it is expected that the production will resume in the first quarter of 2013. Refurbishment work has so far covered the main rock shaft bunton sets, main rock shaft ore, bin and waste conveyors, crushing plant steel structures, electrical panels and cables, overhauling crushers, screens and hot commissioning of the crushing circuit.
The first blast, after the successful cash call, was done last Monday as part of development work underground to refurbish the surface.
This closes the chapter on a difficult path the nickel miner has had to travel over the last few years. BNC’s operations were frozen in late 2008.
BNC plunged into crisis due to a combination of factors chief among them a dip in global metal prices and hyperinflation in Zimbabwe.
It was among hundreds of mining and non-mining companies that closed shop at the height of Zimbabwe’s economic instability. These economic challenges hamstrung its capacity to pay workers and creditors resulting in the build up of massive liabilities. While negotiations on how the liabilities to creditors would be cleared were fairly easy the process took longer with the workers.
This stalled BNC’s planned recapitalisation, but when an agreement was reached the both creditors and staff in total converted a value of US$11,5 million of the liabilities to BNC shares. Workers and creditors of the company now own 31,74 percent of BNC after the company placed 384 million shares as back pay, retrenchment package and settlement of other outstanding liabilities.
After a successful staff rationalisation programme BNC was left with about 1000 workers, half of the total head count the firm had.
leeroy
Online Reporter