Metorex, Jinchuan deal clear all hurdles

[miningmx.com] — COPPER and cobalt producer Metorex’s listing on the JSE will be suspended from January 9, the company confirmed on Wednesday.

Providing a finalisation announcement with regards to the R9.1bn takeover by China’s Jinchuan Group, Metorex said the last day to trade its shares on the local bourse would be January 6.

“Metorex and Jinchuan are pleased to announce that all conditions precedent to the scheme and offer have been fulfilled,” the company said in a statement.

Jinchuan’s closure of the deal seals its victory over Brazilian resources giant Vale, which made an offer for Metorex earlier in 2011.

Vale offered to buy Metorex for R7.35 a share in a deal that valued the local company at about R7.5bn, but its offer was trumped by Jinchuan in July when the Chinese company bid R8.90 a share, which was 21% more than Vale’s offer.

Metorex was founded in 1975 when the founding consortium including Malone acquired Rand London Mines and over the years mined several diverse commodities including gold and coal.

The company was then listed on the JSE in 1999 and after several challenging years streamlined its business to become a copper and cobalt miner.

After selling its Sable Zinc operations in September, the company has its flagship operations at Ruashi, a copper and cobalt mine located near Lubumbashi in the Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Chibuluma, an underground copper mine situated west of Kitwe near the town of Kalulushi in Zambia.

Metorex also has three prospective base-metal growth projects located in the DRC. These are the Dilala East, Kinsenda and Lubembe projects.

CEO Terence Goodlace said the delisting was an opportunity for the company to grow “further and quicker”.