Tenke
Tenke Mining är ett spännande bolag inom Lundinsfären! Noterat i Toronto,kan även handlas på pink sheet på Nasdaq.
Efter att under en ganska lång tid varit en mycket tråkig placering har aktien de senaste månaderna vaknat till liv. Det som satt fart på aktien är förhoppningar om att Tenke skall komma igång i gamla Kongo, där man sedan länge sitter på rättigheterna till världens rikaste koppar/kobolt-malm-projekt, Tenke Fungurume. På smart Lundinmaner har man lierat sig med amerikanska gruvjätten Phelps Dodge och den 20 augusti skall enligt uppgift produktionsavtalet undertecknas. Man kan förmoda att denna händelse kommer att ges en stor publicitet.
Utöver den rika fyndigheten i gamla Kongo så bedriver Tenke verksamhet i Argentina.
Nedan följer en mer ingående beskrivning av projektet i Afrika.
World's Top Copper Prospect Comes to Fruition
For a world-class copper deposit, Tenke Fungurume has been idle for a long time.
The high-grade ore body - weighing in at an impressive 3.5% copper - has been known to geologists for over 75 years. Over that time, several companies have drilled it, carried out feasibility studies and even built rail infrastructure and an airstrip at the site. That work showed that Fungurume contains some 42.5 billion pounds of copper, worth $70 billion at today's prices.
And yet the project has remained on the drawing board. For some time after first discovery, the deposit was actually passed over as being too low-grade. At least compared with the 8% copper ores nearby. More recently, it wasn't geology but politics that kept miners away, as the DRC suffered under a series of corrupt regimes.
But the time may be nearing that the ore sees daylight. And the men behind the deal are none other than X-Leaguers Adolf and Lukas Lundin.
Late in 1996, the Lundins first went to the DRC to work on Fungurume. They managed to secure a controlling interest in the property through their Tenke Mining (T.TNK) and began working up a plan to mine 100,000 tonnes a year of the high-grade rock. They spent 2 years and $88 million building infrastructure and studying the deposit.
But then politics intervened. In 1999, war broke out in the DRC, bringing all industrial activity to a halt. Adolf and Lukas could only watch from the sidelines as the world's best copper prospect once again eluded production.
But with the war's end in late 2002, and the setup of a provisional government, they immediately began picking up the pieces. The lay of the land was now somewhat different, with the World Bank helping to rebuild the DRC. Included in this aid was the development of a new mining code improving the financial climate for developing ores in the country.
With the campaign for Fungurume now entering the latter half of its ten-year span, the Lundins took things up a notch. They brought in major Phelps Dodge as a 70% partner on the venture in early 2004 and scaled back their development plan to a more nimble 45 to 50,000 tonnes per year to start with, with a planned ramp-up in production following.
But there remained one final step: updating the agreement with the new Congolese government. Given past political problems in the country, this was a serious concern for investors. Would the new leaders prove their paper commitments to business? Or would the country return to its old ways?
In late July, the answer came back. Fungurume is a go.
Tenke announced that the DRC's Council of Ministers has approved nine key amendments to the development agreement. With the updated approval in hand, the company can now go about building one of the world's largest copper mines. As president Paul Conibear told us, "This was the fundamental hurdle."
The company will now, along with the considerable resources of Phelps Dodge, spend 8 to 10 months updating its feasibility study from the late '90s. Although infrastructure at the site has moldered for several years, they believe much can be salvaged. The only major task, Paul noted, is to construct a mill. First production is expected 18 to 22 months following completion of the feasibility work.
Once the copper starts flowing, Tenke will hold a 24.75% interest in the property, with 57.75% going to Phelps Dodge, and 17.5% to state mining firm GECAMINES. A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that TNK's share of this asset is worth several times the company's current C$350 million market cap. Investors seem to agree - in the last month, TNK's share price has jumped from C$4.80 to a current C$7.25.
Even given this run-up, there could be a lot more room for Tenke to appreciate. The reasonably short timeline to production is encouraging, as is the seemingly growing political stability of the DRC. It looks as if general elections will likely be held in 2006, a key development in moving the nation toward lasting democracy.
Of course, it's difficult to say what could happen to Tenke's share price as the company moves toward production. In some cases, the mine building period can lead to investor fatigue, causing the price to move sideways or even downward. But given the incredible scale of Fungurume, not to mention the reputation of the Lundins and their staff, now could be the cheapest time to buy into the world's largest undeveloped copper project.
X-League Resources
· Tenke Fungurume project overview
· News release on new agreement with DRC government
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Handlas på pinksheet under tickern TNKDF och i Toronto som TNK.
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I veckan blev avtalet med Demokratiska Republiken Congo klart (se nedan). Aktien reagerade, men måttligare än de flesta nog förväntat.
Länkarna i #1 och #2 ger läget chartmässigt.
Det här är en riktigt spännande placering, tycker jag.
DRC APPROVES TENKE FUNGURUME PROJECT
November 2, 2005 (TNK - TSX) - Tenke Mining Corp. (the "Company") is pleased to announce that amended agreements for the development of the Tenke Fungurume Copper/Cobalt Project have been formally approved by Gecamines and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo ("DRC") and ratified by Presidential decree. These agreements govern the Company?s rights in partnership with Phelps Dodge Corporation ("Phelps Dodge") to develop the Tenke Fungurume Copper/Cobalt Project in Katanga Province, DRC. Tenke Mining Corp. will have an effective 24.75% interest in what is considered the largest and highest-grade undeveloped copper/cobalt project in the world today.
The enormous deposits at Tenke Fungurume are within a concession area totaling more than 1500 square kilometers in the rich and prolific Katanga copper belt. The project area remains extensively under explored. The known deposits contain inferred resources of 547 million metric tonnes grading 3.5% copper and 0.27% cobalt. The mineralization is hosted in a sequence of sedimentary host rocks with a cumulative strike length greater than 82 kilometres. Copper outcrops have been mapped over a 300 square kilometer area to date.
This landmark approval allows the Tenke Fungurume project to advance according to a staged development plan led by Phelps Dodge, with active involvement of the Company and Gecamines. The amended agreements become effective immediately and, coincident with this, the condition of force majeure is being lifted as related to the initial project. A summary of the key amended terms is as follows:
· Start the project with at least 40,000 tpa of copper and associated cobalt with the desired objective to be at 130,000 tpa by the end of year 5 and 400,000 tpa of copper production by year 11 of operations. Preliminary in-house mine plans estimate oxide ore grades exceeding 5% copper for the first 8 years of production.
· Approval for Phelps Dodge to complete the process of becoming the controlling shareholder of Lundin Holdings Ltd. ("Lundin Holdings") which is the Company?s wholly owned subsidiary and majority shareowner of the Tenke Fungurume Project. Coincident with the receipt of the DRC government final approvals Phelps Dodge and the Company have completed the transfer of shares of Lundin Holdings to give Phelps Dodge 70% ownership of Lundin Holdings, the 30% balance being retained by the Company.
· Lundin Holdings will have 82.5% and Gecamines 17.5% of the share ownership of Tenke Fungurume Mining S.A.R.L ("TFM") - the Congolese company which holds 100% interest in the properties. As a result of the Lundin Holdings shareholding agreement with Phelps Dodge, the Company will have an effective 24.75 % interest in the Tenke Fungurume Project. Phelps Dodge as operator will have an effective 57.75% interest.
· A total of $US 50 million in asset transfer payments are to be paid to Gecamines according to 5 milestones staged over a period of about 5 years. Of these remaining transfer payments, Phelps Dodge is obligated to pay the first $US 25 million. Thereafter the Company?s obligations are to pay 30% of the remaining balance in stages of $US 1.5 million upon commencement of commercial production and $US 3 million on each of the two anniversaries from first commercial production of copper.
· Incorporation of the comprehensive tax provisions of the DRC?s new Mining Code.
In anticipation of the project advancing, earlier this year Phelps Dodge mobilized GRD Minproc, one of the most experienced engineering contractors in the region, to update previous feasibility studies and to commence infrastructure assessments. This work is now well advanced, based on initial production criteria of 50,000 tpa copper and 4,000 tpa cobalt production. Golder Associates and Greystone Environmental are also progressing with production of the final environmental impact assessments and social programs respectively.
Staff have recently mobilized to the field to commence data collection, the community consultation process and initiation of social development programs to assist the people in the area of the project. The objective is to have the feasibility study completed towards mid-2006 and construction to proceed targeting first copper production in early 2008.
Paul Conibear, President of Tenke Mining Corp., commented, "The remobilization of this world-class copper project is a direct result of outstanding efforts of the DRC government?s Office of the Presidency, cooperation between the four major components of the transitional government and the initiatives of the Ministries of Mines, Portfolio, Plan, Finance and Gecamines to arrive at development terms which enable Tenke Fungurume to advance immediately. The project will be a major source of new employment for Katanga and will bring significant annual tax revenue to the government along with infrastructure rebuilding and important social programs for the region."
The historic resource estimate for the Tenke Fungurume copper/cobalt project complies with the requirements of "Mineral Resource/Reserve Classification: Categories, Definitions and Guidelines for Public Reporting" a Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Mineral Resource Classification of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum as revised 15 February 1996. (the "Report").The estimates are based on and accurately reflect information compiled by the Competent Persons, as defined in the Report. Each of the Competent Persons has relevant experience in relation to the mineralisation being reported on by them to qualify as Competent Persons as defined in the Report. The competent persons for the Mineral Resources statement are Alan King, and Brian Spratley who were employed by Mining Development Services Ltd, a subsidiary of Tenke Mining Corp. The resource estimate is not compliant with NI 43-101 standards.
On Behalf of the Board
Paul K. Conibear
President
Den här Lundin-juvelen är värd en uppdatering.
Enligt JF lutar det åt att endera Lunding Mining eller jätten Pelphs Dodge kommer att sluka Tenke.
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