Consortiums have started to coalesce among the qualified bidders for the assets of Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM), the mining company in which the Zambian government holds a 60.3% interest.
The latest consortium to emerge comprises two mining companies, Noranda (NOR-T) and Phoenix-based Phelps Dodge (PD-N), and Avmin, a subsidiary of South African mining house Anglovaal in partnership with London investment house Commonwealth Development.
Noranda, Phelps Dodge and the Anglovaal-Commonwealth partnership, each of which had qualified as individual bidders, have joined to bid on three of the projects being sold off by ZCCM: a cobalt refinery at Chambishi, dumps of refractory copper mineralization at Chingola, and a package consisting of the main part of the company’s Nchanga and Nkana divisions. The two divisions accounted for 220,000 tonnes of copper in 1996 — about two thirds of ZCCM’s total production.
The consortium is emphasizing Noranda’s background in smelter rehabilitation — as well as Phelps Dodge’s experience in solvent extraction-electrowinning, on the basis that the refractory mineralization at Chingola can be economically developed by employing that process.
Noranda’s subsidiary, Falconbridge (FL-T), has a 30% share of a consortium that has already been awarded the right to complete a feasibility study on ZCCM’s Konkola mine. Sharing that umbrella are Anglo American’s subsidiary, Zambia Copper Investments, with 40%, and Gencor, with 30%. The Anglo-Gencor-Falconbridge consortium has also been listed as a qualified bidder for the Nchanga-Nkana complex and the Chambishi refinery, so the two Canadian companies could end up bidding against their own affiliate.
Other qualified bidders for the Nchanga and Nkana package include: Cyprus Amax Minerals (CYM-N); South African base metal house Iscor; Australian miners BHP and WMC; and Teck (TEK-T).
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