Johannesburg, Dec 12 (I-Net Bridge) - Mwana Africa, the pan-African multi-commodity resources company, on Monday said it continued to engage with the Zimbabwe government to meet indigenisation requirements for its operations at Freda Rebecca and Bindura Nickel Corporation (BNC).
It said it was "confident" that a satisfactory solution would be found.
"Other than the funding difficulties arising from the lack of clarity around indigenisation, Zimbabwe remains a favourable environment for mining, with infrastructure functioning well and a skilled work force readily available," the company said in the commentary accompanying its interim results.
"We remain committed to operating in the country and to continuing the positive role played by our operations at Freda Rebecca and BNC in their local communities and the wider Zimbabwe economy," the company said.
In the six months to end September 2011 the company said Freda Rebecca's gold production more than doubled to 21,893 ounces from 10,915 ounces in the same six months of last year.
A resource increase to a total of 2.3million ounces at an average grade of 2.42g/t at a 1.5g/t cut off was announced in April.
At BNC, a US$10 million convertible loan facility was approved by Mwana in September to provide funding for on-going working capital requirements.
The care and maintenance programme at BNC continues to maintain the integrity of the assets, while work is in progress to prepare the assets for a phased re-start, beginning with the Trojan Mine.
Following the hot commissioning of the ore processing system in the previous financial year, as well as on-going limited development drilling, the mine is in a good position for a quick and cost-effective re-start of operations when appropriate funding is secured.
"The company continues negotiations with financiers to secure funding for the restart," Mwana said.
As a result of Freda Rebecca's improved production, the company's revenue doubled to US$37.6 million from US$16.5 million and its loss from operating activities narrowed to US$835,000 from US$11.8 million.
The loss for the period was therefore also narrower at US$4.2 million or 0.25 US cents per share from US$11 million or 1.60 US cents per share previously.
Looking ahead, the company said although market uncertainty at the end of the period had dampened the short-term outlook for commodities, Nickel prices remained at sustainable levels for the restart of operations at BNC.
The timing of its successful expansion at Freda Rebecca has also coincided with a period of very beneficial gold prices.
Mwana said its commitment remained on maximising this cash flow, bringing valuable assets such as BNC and Klipspringer back into production and progressing the successful exploration programme at its gold and base metals assets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
"Mwana has made significant progress over the last six months, both in maximising cash flow from our operations in Zimbabwe and in continuing the exploration programme at our gold and base metals assets in the DRC," said Mwana CEO Kalaa Mpinga.
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