[miningmx.com] – MWANA Africa CEO, Kalaa Mpinga, said the company’s board would continue to function normally despite a dispute with shareholders China International Mining and one of the firm’s non-executive directors, Yat Hoi Ning, who hold a combined 21.4% stake in the the UK-listed firm.
“A demonstration of this is that we were able to agree on raising the bond. That was a unanimous decision,” said Mpinga in a telephonic interview today. Mpinga added that the bond, which is to pay for the $26m re-opening of Bindura Nickel Company’s base metals smelter, would be finalised by the end of the month.
Mwana Africa has a 75.4% stake in BNC which has been identified as a possible facility where Zimbabwe could refine platinum group metals in terms of the southern African government’s beneficiation programme.
China International Mining and Ning yesterday extended a petition against the re-appointment last year to four non-executive directors to the Mwana board with a trial date for the petition due to be heard in the latter part of this year.
They initially objected to the appointment of Stuart Morris and Johan Botha, and have now said that the appointments of Ngoni Kudenga and Herbert Mashanyare were not validly passed.
“The company’s position remains unchanged in respect of these court proceedings,” Mwana Africa said in a statement yesterday.
“Whilst it will continue to attempt to work with the Petitioners to achieve a mutually acceptable resolution to their complaints, the company will defend its position vigorously in court if required,” it said.
