[miningmx.com] — EXXARO Resources is to permanently shut its loss-making Zincor zinc plant near Springs, which will result in an unspecified number of staff retrenchments.
The group has been looking to sell its portfolio of zinc assets since 2009. In addition to the Zincor plant, the portfolio includes a 50% stake in the Rosh Pinah zinc and lead mine, a 26% interest in Black Mountain which owns the Black Mountain lead and zinc mine, the huge Gamsberg zinc project as well as an effective 22% interest in the Chifeng zinc smelter in China.
Exxaro CEO Sipho Nkosi said in a news release on Friday that “we have been investigating a range of options to find a buyer for our zinc portfolio business.
“We have ideally wanted to sell all the zinc assets to a single buyer, however, to date we have been unsuccessful in attracting investor interest in Zincor.”
Nkosi added that, in addition to being unsaleable, “continued zinc-making is financially unsustainable with Zincor incurring mounting financial losses while turnaround and improvement interventions have proved fruitless and are unlikely to get Zincor on to a sustainable financial performance level”.
Nkosi said Exarro was in discussions with interested parties over the sale of the stakes in Rosh Pinah and Chifeng.
