https://www.miningweekly.com

Botswana sells troubled State-owned mine to Canada's Premium Nickel Resources

29th September 2021

By: Reuters

  

Font size: - +

GABORONE - Canada's Premium Nickel Resources (PNR) will buy Botswana's defunct, State-owned BCL copper mine with a view to restarting operations within three years, Minister of Minerals, Green Technology and Energy Resources Lefoko Moagi said late on Tuesday.

PNR was awarded an exclusive right to undertake six months of due diligence on BCL, placed under liquidation in 2016, in February.

It has now signed a deal to purchase two of the three shafts at the site and some associated infrastructure, Moagi said, without disclosing a value.

"All the assets that have not been purchased by PNR such as the smelter and dumps will undergo another bidding process by the liquidator," Moagi said.

He added that PNR was negotiating a separate deal to buy another mine owned by the BCL Group, Tati Nickel Mine.

BCL liquidator Trevor Glaum said in February that, subject to a feasibility study, PNR will start construction and commissioning of mining infrastructure to prepare for operating, with investment expected to top $400-million.

At its peak, BCL Mine produced an average of 40 000 t of copper and nickel annually before high operating costs and low international commodity prices prompted its liquidation in 2016.

Edited by Reuters

Comments

The functionality you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION