OMG. Congo cobalt mine to shut indefinitely for overhaul
November 13, 2002 07:32:00 AM ET
NAIROBI, Nov 13 (Reuters) - The International Forrest Group said on Wednesday its Luiswishi cobalt/copper mine in Congo would soon shut indefinitely for overhaul, effectively cutting world cobalt supply by 15 percent.
But company spokesman Joseph Dassas said the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) mine had increased exports of concentrates to one key client, U.S. cobalt refiner the OM Group (OMG), with which the mine has an offtake agreement, to meet OM's needs during the overhaul.
"I would like to confirm that our Luiswishi copper/cobalt mine will effectively soon be closed for a complete refurbishment and to make some improvements at our flotation plant after five years of continuous operations," Dassas said by email from the southern DRC town of Lubumbashi.
"It is very difficult to estimate even roughly how long we will stop operations because we have no idea about the present condition of our heavy equipment, especially our Cascade Mill, which will need a long overhaul," he added without elaborating.
The mine, just outside Lubumbashi in mineral-rich Katanaga province, is jointly owned by l'Enterprise Generale Malta Forrest, a subsidiary of George Forrest International, and Congo's mining parastatal, Gecamines.
It produces almost 500 tonnes per month of cobalt, which is used for superalloys in the aerospace and military sectors and in turbine-based power generators.
Global supply has been about 35,000 tonnes a year for the last few years, according to the U.K.-based Cobalt Development Institute.
The mine has increased cobalt output by 10 percent this year, producing 4,888 tonnes by October 30, compared to 4,448 tonnes during the first 10 months of 2001.
At the turn of the century Luiswishi was one of the first copper mines to be exploited under the former colonial power, Belgium. But production ground to a halt in 1962 and renewed prospection initiated in 1980 by Gecamines was abandoned due to budgetary problems.
It was re-opened in November 1997 by George Forrest, who said then that the mine was expected to produce 3,500 tonnes of cobalt and 8,000 tonnes of copper per year for 13 years.
The ex-Zaire, with up to 10 percent of global copper reserves and 50 percent of its cobalt, was one of the world's leading copper producers with annual production as high as 475,000 tonnes of copper and 17,000 tonnes of cobalt in the 1980s.
Mismanagement, political crisis and massive looting of the mines in 1991 and 1993 led to the collapse of the industry under late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, and production sank to 10 to 20 percent of its former levels. REUTERS
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