Chinese consortium selected to revive Uganda copper mine <http://www.reuters.com/> Description: ReutersBy Elias Biryabarema | Reuters 7 hours ago
By Elias Biryabarema
KAMPALA (Reuters) - A Chinese consortium has won a concession to revive
production at Uganda's Kilembe copper mines in the west of the country near
the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a government
official said on Friday.
The mine was abandoned in the early 1980s due to political turmoil in Congo
and a fall in copper prices, but in recent years the government has been
seeking an investor to resume production, encouraged by attractive world
copper prices.
Uganda's Department of Geological Survey and Mines said Kilembe has an
estimated 4 million tonnes of ore, of which 1.98 percent is estimated to be
pure copper and 0.17 percent cobalt.
Jim Mugunga, spokesman for the finance ministry, said a total of five
companies from China, Zambia and Australia had expressed interest in the
mine, but the Chinese consortium led by Tibet Hima Industry Co Ltd had been
selected.
"The committee met on Wednesday and approved the Tibet Hima led consortium
as best evaluated bidder," Mugunga said.
In recent years China has emerged as one of the leading sources of
investment and infrastructure financing for the prospective crude oil
producer.
Last month China's Sinohydro Corp won a contract to build a 600 megawatt
hydropower dam on the River Nile, expected to cost about $1.6 billion.
Mugunga said the consortium led by Tibet Hima had said it would invest $175
million in the first three to five years of the concession and would expand
a nearby hydropower dam that supplies electricity to the mine from its
current 5 megawatts capacity to 12 megawatts.
The concession is expected to last between 25 and 30 years. The consortium
will pay a signing fee of $4.3 million and an annual concession fee of about
$1 million, Mugunga said.
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni na Dk. Kiiza Besigye Uganda ni katika machafuko"
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