STATE-OWNED Epangelo Mining Company has lost its chance to get a stake in Bannerman Resource’s Etango project in the Namib, which the Australian company wants to develop as one of the top ten uranium-only mining operations in the world.
Bannerman’s chief executive officer Len Jubber yesterday morning confirmed from Perth that the deal was off. ‘We had extensive discussions, but unfortunately it didn’t come to fruition,’ Jubber told The Namibian.Officially, Bannerman informed investors through a stock exchange announcement yesterday that ‘the parties have been unable to complete a mutually acceptable agreement reflecting the commercial substance of the term sheet’. This despite the fact that ‘Epangelo has completed technical due diligence investigations to its satisfaction and confirmed its recognition of the importance of the Etango project to Namibia’.Jubber didn’t want to divulge which of the terms of the proposed transaction Epangelo couldn’t or didn’t meet.When announced in April, Bannerman said it had agreed that Epangelo could buy five per cent in Etango, provided it came up with about N$32 million within the next four months.In addition, the company said Epangelo could buy another five per cent once Government granted Bannerman Mining Resources Namibia (BMRN), a subsidiary of Bannerman Resources, a mining licence. The price of the latter part of the deal would have depended on the market at that time, but Epangelo would have got a 2,5 per cent discount.Once Epangelo would have acquired its first stake of five per cent, it would have had to carry its ‘pro-rata share’ of BMRN’s expenditure. Total pre-production capital capital costs are estimated at US$870 million, nearly N$7 billion at yesterday’s exchange rate. Bannerman was willing to lend Epangelo the money for this.Namibia yesterday remained tightlipped about the reason for the lost opportunity.The Namibian was told by the personal assistant to Epangelo’s managing director Eliphas Hawala that it would be pointless to try and get comment from him, as the company wouldn’t say anything.Mines and Energy Minister Isak Katali was equally evasive. Asked why Epangelo wasn’t interested in Etango anymore, he said: ‘I don’t know.’Government last year announced that all exploration and mining rights of strategic minerals, including uranium, now belongs to Epangelo and that foreign companies will have to partner with the state-owned company.Katali also wouldn’t shed light on the progress of Bannerman’s mining licence, referring The Namibian to mining commissioner Erasmus Shivolo. He wasn’t available at the time of going to press.Jubber said Bannerman has applied to the Ministry for a mining licence in 2009 and that the company remains committed to the Etango project. ‘We will pursue other local and international partners,’ he said.
