Berkeley Mineral Resources begins programme at Kabwe

Berkeley Mineral Resources (BMR) said on Tuesday it kicked off processing of washplant tailings at the former Kabwe mine site in central Zambia.

The programme is expected to produce zinc and lead grade of no less than 40% by year end.

Last year BMR acquired all the tailings at the former Kabwe mine and secured the large scale licence 6990-HQ-LML, after the lifting of a State Moratorium on the re-issuing of licences in Zambia.

The company has since been working with its processing partners including Ascot Group and Yunnan Xiangyun Feilong Nonferrous Metal Company.

"Having secured these highly valuable above-ground resources at Kabwe and put in place the relevant licences and permits, BMR is delighted to be working with Ascot and to be able to initiate processing," said Chairman, Masoud Alikhani.

"The company is looking forward to producing concentrates, monetising their worth and at the same time improving the environment by rehabilitating the Kabwe stockpiles site."

The project is being initiated by BMR's Zambian subsidiary Enviro Processing and will produce concentrate from the Washplant tailings, the highest grade stockpile resources at the former mine site with a combined lead and zinc grade of 17.87%.

Shares rose 3.09% to 2.50p at 10:18 Tuesday.

RD