PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX- and TSX-listed copper and cobalt explorer Tiger Resources on Friday reported that it had taken full ownership of Congo Minerals (Comin), after it completed the required $12-million payment.

Comin owns a 60% stake in SEK, a company registered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which holds the mining licence covering the Kipoi copper project.

DRC-State-owned Gécamines owns 40% in SEK.

The Kipoi project covers an area of 55 km², in the Katanga province of the DRC. The project contains a 12-km sequence of mineralised Roan sediments that host at least five known deposits.

Tiger Resources said that the acquisition of Comin was another step to achieving its target of becoming a copper producer by the end of 2010.

The explorer has proposed a staged development at the Kipoi project, with the mineralisation at the Kipoi Central deposit to be exploited during the stage-one development, which was likely to start production later this year.

During the three-year life of stage one, a total of 900 000 t/y of ore, containing 7% copper would be processed through a heavy-media separation plant to produce 35 000 t/y of copper.

To subscribe to Mining Weekly's print magazine email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or buy now.