JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The world’s largest cobalt chemical producer, Huayou Cobalt, has made a A$10-million strategic investment in Australia-listed Nzuri Copper to advance that company's copper and cobalt projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

China’s Huayou, which also has established operations in the DRC, will work closely with Nzuri to bring the Kalongwe copper/cobalt project into production.

The Stage 1 operation at Kalongwe will comprise an openpit mine and a one-million-tonne-a-year dense media separation processing plant, which will deliver 19 360 t/y of copper and 1 507 t/y of cobalt, according to the October 2017 feasibility study.

“We have received an overwhelming level of interest from potential strategic investors in the company since completing the Kalongwe feasibility study in October. After extensive discussions with several groups in recent weeks, we are delighted to have finalised this agreement with a strategic partner of the calibre of Huayou Cobalt – which is the largest cobalt chemicals producer in the world and already has a strong and successful track record of operations and investment in the DRC.

We believe that the involvement of Huayou will enable Nzuri to unlock value from the high-grade cobalt at Kalongwe, which would significantly improve the already robust economics of the project,” commented Nzuri CEO Mark Arnesen.

The strategic investment is at a price of A$0.2507 a share, being the undiscounted volume-weighted average price of the Nzuri’s shares over the 30 trading days prior to the commercial terms being agreed and the subscription agreement signed.

The funds from the strategic investment would be allocated to the solvent-extraction and electrowinning testwork programme and scoping study, overall project optimisation and early stage development activities and exploration funding for the Fold & Thrust Belt joint venture that Nzuri has with Ivanhoe.

Huayou Cobalt is the largest cobalt chemicals producer in the world, producing 25 000 t/y of these products. Huayou Cobalt has operated in the DRC for over ten years and runs several copper/cobalt operations including La Minière de Kasombo, Congo Dongfang International Mining and refining facilities in China.