Sibanye-Stillwater (SSWJ.J) has expressed an interest in Zambia’s Mopani Copper Mines. The firm’s CEO Neal Froneman made the announcement and said the mine and smelter complex is looking for new investors after Glencore sold the asset to state mining investment company ZCCM-IH in January last year.
“Sibanye had registered an interest around a year ago, and we remain interested. ZCCM-IH (ZCCM.LZ) hired Rothschild in June to help find a new investor to upgrade and expand it. We like Zambia, we like what the new president is doing there,” said Froneman.
Tax regime
Sibanye, which mainly produces platinum group metals and gold, has expanded into battery metals including lithium and nickel through a string of acquisitions. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, elected in August 2021, has overseen reforms in the mining tax regime in a bid to attract new investment and boost production in Africa’s second-biggest copper producer.
Mopani Copper Mines Plc is a Zambian registered copper mine owned by ZCCM-IH. In April 2000, Mopani purchased assets of the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Limited (ZCCM) comprising underground mines, a concentrator, a smelter and a refinery at Mufulira mine site and underground mines, open pits, a concentrator and a cobalt plant at Nkana mine site in Kitwe
Mopani, which is more than 90 years old, has the potential to produce 225,000 tonnes of copper annually, nearly three times its expected 2022 production, but it needs investment of at least $300 million to fund a complicated underground expansion.
