STATE-OWNED Epangelo Mining Company has acquired 17 Exploration Prospecting Licences (EPLs) for mining minerals such as base metals and coal from the Ministry of Mines and Energy since its launch in 2009.
It has 18 more EPLs in the pipeline, Epangelo managing director Eliphas Hawala said on Thursday.Hawala said the company needs sufficient capital to establish itself, while at the same time avoiding becoming a burden to the State.’We do not want to become a burden to the State. As part of its establishment, the company needs to acquire and develop its own assets, starting from Exclusive Prospecting Licences (EPLs) all the way up to equity participation,’ Hawala said.He made these comments at the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Epangelo and THL Zinc Namibia Holdings, a subsidiary of Skorpion Zinc’s Vedanta Resources. It is the third company to partner with Vedanta – the other two being Namibia Rare Earth Inc and Swakop Uranium, developers of the Husab uranium deposit.The latest MoU will boost cooperation between Epangelo and Vedanta in the prospecting and mining of base metals, coal and other minerals.Hawala said the company is expected to meet four main challenges over the next 20 years – establishment, consolidation, return on investment and growth.During the first five years of the this period, most of the problems the company expects to face are related to its establishment, he said. This includes the recruitment of staff, finding suitable infrastructure to operate from, generating start-up capital, as well as satisfying the expectations of stakeholders.’We thus need to come with creative ways on how to meet these challenges, which brings me to the significance of this MoU and what it means to us,’ Hawala said.The MoU involves cooperation in the exploration of designated EPLs belonging to Epangelo, with the technical and financial backing of Vedanta. – Nampa
