British interest in Ongopolo

WEATHERLY International PLC has entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement with Ongopolo Mining and Processing Limited, in which the British company is seeking a stake in the local copper producer.

Weatherly is a mining company that owns the Luanshya mine in the Zambian copperbelt, which has an ore reserve of about 1,4 million tonnes of copper, most of it in partially developed underground reserves. Ongopolo operates four mines and a smelter – two mines in Otjihase and Matchless near Windhoek, one at Kombat in the North and the fourth mine and a smelter complex situated at Tsumeb.The negotiations with Ongopolo are said to be part of Weatherly’s broader strategy to link its future Zambian projects with Ongopolo’s mine and smelting infrastructure.The two companies expect negotiations to be completed in three weeks’ time.Efforts to get more information on the deal proved fruitless, as Ongopolo’s Human Resources Director, Hofni Ipinge, declined to comment yesterday, except to say that the two companies were still negotiating and that the outcome would be revealed once negotiations were complete.Ongopolo operates four mines and a smelter – two mines in Otjihase and Matchless near Windhoek, one at Kombat in the North and the fourth mine and a smelter complex situated at Tsumeb.The negotiations with Ongopolo are said to be part of Weatherly’s broader strategy to link its future Zambian projects with Ongopolo’s mine and smelting infrastructure.The two companies expect negotiations to be completed in three weeks’ time.Efforts to get more information on the deal proved fruitless, as Ongopolo’s Human Resources Director, Hofni Ipinge, declined to comment yesterday, except to say that the two companies were still negotiating and that the outcome would be revealed once negotiations were complete.