Windhoek
Weatherly International, a British company listed on the London Stock Exchange, is moving its chief executive’s office from London to Windhoek.
Weatherly is the parent company of Weatherly Mining Namibia which operates three copper mines in Namibia, namely the Otjihase and Matchless underground mines, and the newly commissioned Tschudi open pit mine near Tsumeb.
The current chief executive officer for Weatherly, Rod Webster, announced his intention to retire from that position at the end of June, and the current chief operating officer, Craig Thomas, will take over as CEO.
“We are very happy to operate in Namibia, which has one of the strongest economies on the African continent. The government pursues a consistent strategy of encouraging investment in the country and Weatherly International enjoys a positive relationship with government members and officials. We look forward to contributing further to national development, economic growth and job creation in the years ahead,” commented Thomas.
Thomas has been based in Namibia for the last five years, and will continue to be based here in his new role, reflecting the importance of the Namibian operations to the future of Weatherly.
The current Tschudi copper project office in Windhoek, located in the Maerua Mall Office Tower, will now become the office of the CEO for Weatherly International.
The new Tschudi open pit copper mine employs more than 650 Namibians, and is designed to produce 17 000 tonnes of refined copper cathode per year, over an 11-year initial mine life.
The first copper cathode was produced in February this year and, as production rates ramp up in the coming months, Tschudi is expected to produce 10 000 tonnes of copper cathode by the end of 2015, and to be at full designed production capacity by that time.
The copper cathode final product, which contains 99.99 percent pure copper, means that refined copper metal is being produced on a commercial scale in Namibia for the first time.
Weatherly’s sophisticated on-site processing facility at Tschudi, consisting of heap leaching, solvent extraction, and electro-winning steps, takes copper processing beyond the capabilities of a conventional smelter, with the downstream value-addition activities of a copper refinery occurring on the mine site itself.
The Otjihase and Matchless mines currently employ more than 400 Namibians and have produced concentrates containing 20 000 tonnes of copper metal since restarting in early 2011. Weatherly is continuing to look at ways in which these operations can be recapitalised in order to fully realise their potential.