Africa copper belt seen producing 2 mln T/year
Wed Mar 28, 2007 4:59 PM ET
SANTIAGO, March 28 (Reuters) - The Copperbelt region extending from southeast Democratic Republic of Congo to northern Zambia could produce 2 million tonnes a year within 10-15 years, compared with output of about 650,000 tonnes in 2006, a mining leader said on Wednesday.
But it will require massive investment of at least $20 billion to provide transport infrastructure and construct new mines, according to Clive Newell, president of Vancouver-based First Quantum Minerals Ltd. <FM.TO>. Although banks have shown little appetite, China is seen as a potential major investor.
"Lack of roads and railways is the main constraint," Newell told Reuters after addressing the 6th CRU World Copper Conference in Santiago. "But the region has enormous potential."
Output in the Copperbelt is slowly recovering after sinking to a low of some 240,000 tonnes in 2000 after many years of political instability, corruption, lack of investment and inefficient state management.
Privatization in Zambia, new mining codes in Zambia and the DRC, and the quality of deposits have attracted new mining companies, especially on the Zambian side of the belt.
Newell said that Quantum Minerals has five operating mines in the region and estimates it will produce 250,000 tonnes of copper in 2007, up from 180,000 tonnes in 2006 and 12,000 tonnes in 2002.
"Exploration is our lifeblood and we build capacity very cheaply," he said.
"The Copperbelt is not quite the new Chile but it will become a very important contributor to growth in world copper supply," Newell said in his presentation.
Chile, the world's major copper producer, is expected to produce nearly 7 million tonnes of copper by 2012.
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