Zambia's Munali Nickel Mine To Resume Output In Nov - Official

Zambia's Munali Nickel Mine is expected to resume output in November following the signing of a refinancing deal with Barclays PLC (BCS) last week, a company official told Dow Jones Newswires Monday.

Speaking by telephone from Lusaka, the Zambian capital, an official with state-owned Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investments Holdings, which holds a minority stake in the mine, said output would start in November after the arrival of machinery ordered from China.

“The board of [majority shareholder] Jinchuan Group has already cleared the Munali Mine takeover,” the official said, adding a redevelopment plan has been approved and will be implemented after a formal takeover, which is expected in mid-October.

Jinchuan couldn't comment immediately.

The mine was put under care and maintenance in March by operator Albidon Ltd. (ALB.AU), due to low global metal prices. Since the start of the year, global nickel prices have been recovering, driven by investment demand and increased Chinese imports.

According to Barclays Bank Zambia. the $12.6 million refinancing package will enable Jinchuan to procure underground mining equipment to allow the resumption of mining activities.

Until its closure Munali was Zambia's sole nickel producer; the mine has the capacity to produce 10,000 metric tons of nickel in concentrate. Zambia is trying to diversify its copper-reliant mining sector by venturing into mining of other minerals like nickel, lead, zinc and uranium.

-By Nicholas Bariyo, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]