13th Feb 2013 07:00
13 February 2013
Mwana Africa PLC
("Mwana", "Mwana Africa", the "Group" or the "Company")
Hot Commissioning Commenced at Trojan Nickel Mine
Production of Nickel Concentrates Expected in Q2 2013
Mwana is pleased to announce that the refurbishment program of the surface milling, flotation, tailings and concentrate handling facilities at the Trojan Nickel Mine in Zimbabwe is proceeding on schedule.
Cold commissioning of electrical and mechanical circuits encompassing feed conveyors, mills, flotation, concentrate handling and tailings is complete and was tested successfully by the introduction of water through the processing plant circuits in late January. This phase is now complete and hot commissioning, through the introduction of ore into the milling circuit, commenced on 8th February.
The successful completion of the rehabilitation program follows a four month program of work which has been successfully delivered on time and within budget by the Trojan team.
Progress on surface has been matched by the successful ramp up of underground operations. Development and underground production ore are in line with the planned restart and have resulted in a stockpile of 70kt of material available in surface stockpiles, ahead of the mills, and in preparation for hot commissioning.
The commissioning of the Trojan Nickel Mine marks a major milestone in the restoration of the Group's nickel assets, following a four year period of care and maintenance. The Trojan Mine is planned to produce 7ktpa Ni in concentrate.
Kalaa Mpinga, Chief Executive Officer of Mwana, commented: "We are extremely pleased with the progress made at the Trojan Nickel Mine and in particular the delivery of the mine into a state of production readiness, on time and on budget, within just four months of refinancing. This performance bodes well for the delivery of nickel concentrate from Trojan into the market by Q2 2013."
For further information please visit www.mwanaafrica.comor contact:
Mwana Africa PLC | Tel: +44 (0)20 7654 5580 |
Donald McAlister | |
Nominated Adviser and Broker | |
Liberum Capital Limited | Tel: +44 (0)20 3100 2000 |
Michael Rawlinson / Tom Fyson / Christopher Kololian | |
Public & Investor Relations | |
Tavistock Communications | Tel: +44 (0)20 7920 3150 |
Ed Portman / Simon Hudson / Mike Bartlett |
About Mwana Africa PLC
Mwana Africa PLC is a pan-African, multi-commodity mining and development company. Mwana's principal operations and exploration activities cover gold, nickel, copper and diamonds in Zimbabwe, the DRC and South Africa.
The restart of operations at The Trojan Nickel Mine (owned by Mwana's Zimbabwe subsidiary Bindura Nickel Corporation ("BNC")) follows four years during which all of the BNC assets were on care and maintenance. In September 2012, Bindura Nickel Corporation carried out a restructuring and recapitalisation involving US$23m being invested into BNC which has allowed it to restart the Trojan mine. First sale of concentrate to Glencore International is expected in Q2 2013.
Mwana's Freda Rebecca gold mine in Zimbabwe, having restarted operations in 2009, produced 47,770 ozs of gold in the 12 months to March 2012. Record quarterly gold production of 18,350 ozs was achieved in the third quarter of 2012.
In February 2012, Mwana announced a gold mineral resource of 2.01 million ounces at its Zani Kodo project in Democratic Republic of Congo.
In August 2012, Mwana announced it had entered into a Cooperation and Development Agreement with Zhejiang Hailiang Company Limited to jointly explore its copper license areas in the Katanga Province of the DRC.
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