| May 4, 2010 |
| African Copper Plc: Operational Update |
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire - May 4, 2010) - African Copper Plc ("ACU" or "the Company") (AIM:ACU)(BOTSWANA:AFRICAN COPPER), the AIM-listed copper producer and exploration company, currently focused on Botswana is pleased to announce an operational update on its flagship copper producing Mowana Mine.
As previously reported, ACU had decided to purchase mobile crushing units in order to bypass the Secondary and Tertiary Crushing Plant which had been hindered by equipment breakdown and adverse weather conditions. The Company can now announce that these units have been purchased and commissioned, and are now being brought up to full capacity. Engineering consultants engaged in April have commenced the study for the redesign of the Secondary and Tertiary Plant.
In addition, the Company is finalising specifications of the wet tailings facility with the consulting engineers. The Environmental Management Plan for wet tailings disposal was submitted to the Botswana Government's Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) in April 2010 and approval is expected in May 2010. The Company has also selected the Dense Media Separation ("DMS") plant to be installed and is seeking final board approval in May 2010. The DMS plant provides a pre-concentration of copper prior to milling and flotation and is expected to have the effect of allowing mining to a lower cut-off, processing of higher grade material through the concentrator and an overall increase in the contained metal output from the Mowana mine.
Further to previous announcements, the Company has now commenced deep exploration drilling in and around the Mowana mine and significant progress has also been made to bring Thakadu, the Company's nearby copper-silver deposit, into operation. The Thakadu exploration programme has been reviewed by the DEA and a final Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) will be submitted in early May 2010 with approval expected later in the month. A Project Manager was appointed at the start of March 2010 and contract mining tenders are being conducted prior to the granting of the mining licence which is now also expected in May 2010.
Commenting, Jordan Soko, Executive Director of African Copper Plc, said, "We are pleased with the installation of the mobile crushers. The crushers are a key part of our programme of enhancements at our Mowana Mine. We believe that all these actions will significantly improve copper production at what is a high quality asset."
For further information please visit www.africancopper.com.
Notes to Editors:
African Copper Plc is an AIM-listed copper producer and exploration company, currently focused on Botswana. The Company's flagship project is the copper producing open pit Mowana mine. ACU also owns the rights to the adjacent Thakadu-Makala deposit. Both deposits are situated on the highly prospective Matsitama belt, located close to Botswana's second largest city, Francistown, in the north-eastern part of the country.
This press release contains forward-looking information. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future including, without limitation, statements regarding the ability of the Company's action plan (including the mobile crusher and wet tailings facility) to improve plant performance, the ability of the mobile crushing plant to be brought to full capacity, the approval of the Environmental Management Plan for wet tailings disposal approved by the DEA in May 2010, the approval of the DMS plant by the board in May 2010, the approval of the Thakadu EIA by the DEA in May 2010, the granting of a mining licence for Thakadu by the end of May 2010 and the timing of operations commencing at Thakadu are forward-looking information. This forward-looking information reflects the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking information is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, performance of the proposed mobile crusher to process the envisaged volumes, whether the mobile crusher is a cost effective means of replacing the Secondary and Tertiary plant capacity, the timing of the granting of a mining licence for Thakadu, the effect on current and future production on depositing wet tailings into a temporary impoundment in the envisaged tailings footprint, ability to move to full capacity once the proposed action plan is complete, delivery and installation delays of the mobile crusher and the other risks disclosed in the Company(C)s most recent annual information form filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. All forward-looking information speaks only as of the date hereof and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that its expectations reflected in the forward-looking information, as well as the assumptions inherent therein, are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and, accordingly, undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein. | |