Weatherly signs its Namibian zinc/lead deal with the Chinese
The official signing of the zinc/lead mining deal between AIM-listed junior miner, Weatherly International and Chinese company ECE, was undertaken in the presence of some very illustrious observers.
LONDON -
London AIM listed Weatherly International has now formally signed its agreement with Jiangsu Eastern China Nonferrous Metals Investment Company (ECE for short) which should lead to the redevelopment and re-opening of the Berg Aukas lead-zinc mine in Namibia. The property has a significant mining history having been mined from 1920 to 1928 and then from 1959 to 1978. When the mine was shut down due to low metals prices in 1978 it had stated ore reserves of 1.65 million tonnes grading 17% zinc, 5% lead and 0.6% vanadium pentoxide
The deal was signed at the U.K.'s Foreign and Commonwealth office in the presence of Chinese premier Wen Jiabou, who is on an official visit, and David Cameron, the U.K.'s Prime Minister.
It perhaps should be emphsasised that this was not a brand new deal, but one which has been in the making for about a year with Weatherly and ECE penning a preliminary deal last July which was effectively the starting point towards the project's revival.
The process involved the setting up of a new company, China Africa Mining (CAR), which will be around 65% owned by ECE (with the balance in the hands of Weatherly's shareholders) and which will lead the project. The Agreements signed today are subject to certain conditions, including the admission of CAR shares to trading on AIM which Weatherly' CEO, Rod Webster, says is well on the way to completion with a final timetable for this to be published as soon as possible.
In a statement released after the signing, Webster, said "This agreement signed today is the culmination of many months of detailed work and brings together two entities who, through a combination of expertise, financial strength and vision share a common goal - that of building a profitable, sustainable, quality resources business."
The stated aim of the CAR/Weatherly combination is that the redevelopment and re-commissioning of Berg Aukas will be the first in a number of projects that will see CAR develop as an African/Chinese joint venture to the benefit of all its stakeholders.
The deal involves Weatherly contributing its Berg Aukas properties to CAR, while ECE's initial contribution to CAR will be a capital injection of �4.8 million. On completion of the transaction, CAR's immediate focus will be to commence a feasibility study with a view to bringing Berg Aukas into production as soon as possible. The longer term strategy for CAR is to build a profitable and widely-based resources business which may include the acquisition of additional assets from Weatherly, ECE or third parties.
Weatherly's other Namibian assets include the Otjihase and Matchless copper projects, where contract mining commenced at the beginning of the year, the Tschudi open pit copper project and the reprocessing of the Tsumeb copper mine tailings.
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