A little bit of good news amid the gloom.FatManChinese smelter...

A little bit of good news amid the gloom.

FatMan



Chinese smelter to process Lumwana copper in Zambia
Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:50pm GMT Email | Print | Share| Single Page[-] Text [+] LUSAKA, Feb 16 (Reuters) - China's Chambishi copper smelter in Zambia has agreed to process 230,000 tonnes of copper concentrate per year from Lumwana Copper Mines under a new five-year deal, Lumwana's owners said on Friday.

Equinox Minerals Ltd. (EQN.AX), which owns the Lumwana copper mine in Zambia, said in a statement that the agreement was a 'take and pay' contract that would commence in July 2008.

"The annual commitment to Chambishi will be 100,000 tonnes of copper contained in concentrates, which equates to approximately 230,000 tonnes per year of Lumwana concentrates," Equinox President and Chief Executive Craig Williams said.

Williams added that Chambishi would charge Lumwana for copper treatment and refining and that the fees would be determined annually based on global benchmark terms.

"This concentrate offtake agreement represents the coming together of two important new projects underpinning the growth of the copper industry in Zambia," Williams said.

The Chambishi smelter is a new Zambian partnership between China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co. Ltd. (CNMC), which owns 60 percent of the shares, and Yunnan Copper Industry (Group) Co. Ltd (YNCIG), which holds the remainder.

Equinox Minerals said the Lumwana mine would produce an average of 169,000 tonnes of cathode copper per year for the first six years of its 37-year mine life and that construction was on schedule for commissioning in the second quarter of 2008.

Construction of the Chambishi smelter commenced in December 2006. The smelter is expected to begin production in late 2008 and will be producing 150,000 tonnes of copper cathode per year.