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Gold/Mining/Energy : Mining News of Note -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LoneClone who wrote (66560)	8/30/2010 2:54:57 PM
From: LoneClone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 193918

First Quantum Says Loss of Congo Copper Mine Won't Affect Other Projects By Carli Lourens - Aug 30, 2010 8:56 AM PT bloomberg.com First Quantum Minerals Ltd., a Canadian mining company that produces copper in Africa, said the loss of income from its Frontier mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo won’t disrupt projects elsewhere. First Quantum, based in Vancouver, said on Aug. 27 that it had suspended operations at the copper mine after a Congolese government agency withdrew its permit. “It doesn’t impact our cash resources and flow sufficiently to affect our projects,” Chief Executive Officer Philip Pascall told analysts on a conference call today. The company is reviewing legal options outside the country as the permit withdrawal has “no legal basis,” he said. First Quantum invested $226 million in the open pit mine and started commercial operations there in late 2007, lifting annual output to 75,000 metric tons, according to the company’s website. The gross value of Frontier’s fixed plant is $249 million, Chief Financial Officer Mark Bolton said on the call. Arbitration over Frontier could take two-to-three years while an arbitration ruling on the company’s Kolwezi project is expected next year, Pascall said. First Quantum said last week that Congo’s action at Frontier is a response to the company’s decision to seek arbitration to resolve a year-long dispute over its Kolwezi copper and cobalt project. ‘No Weaknesses’ Eurasian Natural Resources Corp., based in London, said earlier this month that it had acquired the license to Kolwezi. First Quantum has been in contact with ENRC “to point out the flaw in the way they were going,” Pascall said. ENRC indicated in a brief response that “they weren’t very receptive to that,” he said. There are “no weaknesses” in its Kolwezi mining contracts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pascall said today. The company plans to start its refurbished Ravensthorpe nickel plant in Australia in the first quarter of next year and plans to start a nickel, copper and platinum processing plant in Finland a year later. To contact the reporters on this story: Carli Lourens in Johannesburg at clourens@bloomberg.net