Mark Parker, MD of African Eagle
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Freeport McMoRan walks away from Ndola
Allan Seccombe
Posted: Tue, 13 May 2008

[miningmx.com] -- FREEPORT McMoRan’s subsidiary Phelps Dodge Mining (Zambia) (PDMZ) has decided not to pursue exploring the Ndola copper prospect in Zambia with African Eagle, leaving the latter with full ownership of the deposit and looking for a new partner.

The reason for PDMZ declining to for its rights to earn up to 70% of the project was not given in the African Eagle news release on Tuesday.

“Whilst we are disappointed that PDMZ chose not to continue working with us at Ndola, we recognise that they have their own priorities,” said Mark Parker, African Eagle’s managing director.

“PDMZ has been a good partner to work with and African Eagle was able to advance the project significantly quicker with PDMZ’s capital,” he said in a statement.

African Eagle shares were untraded in Johannesburg at R1.40 each. On AIM, the shares were down 4.35% at 8.25 pence.

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In an August 2006 transaction, PDMZ paid African Eagle $2.7m in exchange for shares, giving it just under four percent of the company’s shares at the time.

Parker sounded an upbeat note on the Ndola deposit at which four targets have been identified and African Eagle will continue exploring. African Eagle is traded on London’s AIM and Johannesburg AltX markets.

"Our exploration to date has shown that Ndola has good potential for significant discoveries to be made,” he said.

“We will continue to evaluate the four key targets ourselves, although we would consider signing up a suitable new partner.”

The news of PDMZ’s departure from the Ndola project comes hard on the heels of TWP Finance, a wholly owned subsidiary of TWP Holdings, a listed South African consulting engineering firm, has acquired a 4.5% stake in African Eagle, with plans to increase that to more than 20% over the next 12 months.