WINDHOEK – Weatherly Mining, the copper mining company that owns various copper deposit rights in the country, says it has secured financing for the development of the Tschudi mine.
The announcement follows the launch of N$800 million for the construction of the mine on the open pit side some 13 kilometres outside Tsumeb, about 450 kilometres north of Windhoek. In a statement yesterday Weatherly chief executive officer Rob Webster, said the company has concluded the financing deal with Orion for Tschudi mine and the country’s national power utility corporation, NamPower, would soon start with the execution of the power supply contract. First production from Tschudi is expected in the second quarter of 2013. “I am pleased to have concluded our financing deal with Orion, culminating in the drawdown of tranche B of the Orion facility, which will allow us to bring Tschudi into production. We look forward to working with our contractors and partners with the objective of producing our first copper cathode in the second quarter of 2015. This is an important milestone in relation to us achieving our objective of creating a mining business capable of producing 25 000 tonnes of copper per annum,” Webster said in a statement. Weatherly says it has completed its first drawndown of US$80 million (about N$819 million) of the loan facility provided by Orion Mine Finance for the development of the Tschudi copper project. The money is repayable over 6.5 years, with an initial two-year repayment holiday and attracts an interest rate of 7 percent over the bank rate set at 2 percent. The company also has a project cost overrun facility of a further US$8 million (about N$82 million) at its disposal, if required. Tschudi is an open pit copper mine, with 11 years mine life, producing 17 000 tonnes of copper cathode per annum, at life of mine cash costs of US$4 267 per tonne.
The company is targeting first copper from Tschudi in the 2nd quarter of calendar year 2015. Commencement of civil and earthworks have already started, while the mobilization of mining contract is scheduled for the first quarter of next year. Weatherly has also secured an agreement with NamPower for the supply of power to the Tschudi plant. The agreement provides for 8 megawatts of installed capacity for the life of mine.
By Staff Reporter