LONDON, UK: Central Copper Resources Limited (CCR), a company focused on delivering a high grade copper project into production and exploration of assets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and in the Republic of Zambia (Zambia), expressed its intention to float its ordinary shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.
Concurrently with admission, Central Copper Resources Limited is proposing to raise equity through the placing of new Ordinary Shares, the proceeds of which will be invested primarily to advance the high grade Mbamba Kilenda copper project in the DRC towards production and to continue high impact exploration at both its Titan Project in the DRC and Lunga Project in Zambia.
Kevin van Wouw, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Our admission to AIM and proposed equity raise will enable Central Copper Resources to become a mid-tier copper company by advancing our flagship high grade Mbamba Kilenda copper project through the PFS towards production in the near term.
Also, we look forward to building value through exploration, particularly with Titan undertaking its first drilling programme at Kayeye, which is located along strike from Ivanhoe’s Kamoa-Kakula Copper Mine.
We believe that we are listing on AIM at a good time in the project life cycles of the portfolio and given the recent performance of the copper price. The group is looking forward to access the capital markets in London and to build on its current strong shareholder register.”
Central Copper Resources Limited (CCR) has a 65% interest in 13 permits in the Democratic Republic of Congo (“DRC”), including the Mbamba Kilenda project which is high-grade copper project (at > 3% Cu) and near-term producer.
These 13 licences cover a contiguous 85km of the geological feature hosting the mineralisation and the focus to date has only been on the eastern side of the licences at Mbamba Kilenda, which has yielded a JORC (2012) compliant Mineral Resource Estimate of 11.8Mt @ 3.13% TCu (using 1% cut off). The resource is open-ended to the west and to the east along this 5.5km strike and at depth, providing the potential to significantly increase the resource from planned exploration drilling. Mbamba Kilenda benefits from good infrastructure with a main road passing through the Project, which links to the Matadi port and a nearby power station.
In October 2020, CCR completed the engineering phase of its PFS. The study was based on a mining evaluation phase for the first three years producing a direct shipping ore (DSO) copper in concentrate (approximately 20-25% Cu).
From Year 3, it is envisaged that the process plant is upgraded with the installation of Milling and Floatation facilities, enabling production to be increased to c.1Mtpa run-of-mine (ROM), producing an estimated 30,000t p.a. copper in concentrate.
Work completed on the PFS also outlined expected copper recoveries in excess of 85% and first production in 2022, subject to financing. The total CAPEX requirement is estimated at US$46.5m for the mining evaluation phase and US$180.7m for the upgrades and expansion in the first mining phase following Year 3. The Company’s economic analysis uses a long term copper price of US$3.11/lb Cu and indicates an Internal Rate of Return of 50% and a Net Present Value 10 (NPV10) of US$354m, which will be confirmed by the work programme following Admission.
Copper has a broad range of practical applications, from electrical engineering and telecommunications to playing an important role in architecture and construction sectors. Its conductive properties, durability and malleability has resulted in it relatively recently becoming a key resource in the world economy, largely as a result of the global transition to becoming more environmentally conscious, which increases for many goods that require copper.
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