 | |
| Company type | Public limited company |
|---|---|
| AIM: CFM | |
| Founded | 2002 (listed) |
| Defunct | November 2009 |
| Headquarters | London , England |
Area served | Africa |
Key people | Phillippe Edmonds (chair) Andrew Groves (CEO) |
| Subsidiaries | Boss Mining Sprl |
The Central African Mining and Exploration Company plc (CAMEC) was a mining company active in the Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and in other parts of Africa. It was acquired by Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation in 2009.
In September 2002 Andrew Groves reported a 6 to 7 million Rand had been spent to upgrade the Three Aloes mine. [1]
CAMEC listed on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market in October 2002. It pursued an aggressive and successful program of acquiring and developing projects, finding little difficulty in gaining funding based on its strong track record. The company developed operations or undertook exploration in Mali (bauxite), Mozambique (coal), the DRC (copper and cobalt), South Africa (fluorspar) and Zimbabwe. [2]
Initially, the Zimbabwean businessman Billy Rautenbach controlled Boss Mining Sprl, which owned 50% of the Mukondo resource. The provenance of Rautenbach's claims to Mukondo were the subject of considerable controversy, as he was appointed head of the Congolese state-owned Gécamines at the same time Zimbabwe was supporting the embattled DRC government. [3] In a February 2006 deal, Rautenbach gained about 17% of the CAMEC shares when CAMEC bought an 80% share in Boss. [4]
Around this time, the recently re-elected Congolese administration had announced a review of all existing mining contracts, due to widespread concerns about irregularities of mineral concessions made by officials during and in the aftermath of the Second Congo War. [5]
In July 2007, CAMEC said it planned to acquire of the Canadian copper company Katanga Mining in exchange for shares in the combined company. [6] At the time of the offer, CAMEC already owned 22% of Katanga. [7]
However, the deal encountered difficulties as Billy Rautenbach was arrested and deported to Zimbabwe. [8] The DRC deputy mines minister, Victor Kasongo, stated that way the C19 license had been obtained was fraudulent. [9] CAMEC strongly disputed this, and stated the move was designed to destabilize its bid for Katanga. [10] CAMEC withdrew the offer in September 2007, citing uncertainty due to a review of mining licenses being conducted by the DRC government. [11] Despite statements from DRC attorney general Tshimanga Mukeba that certain CAMEC mining rights were annulled, in October 2007 CAMEC continued to argue that they remained valid. [12]
In June 2007, Dan Gertler purchased Prairie International, which owned 100% of Tremalt, which owned 80% of Kababankola Mining Company Sprl which owned other 50% stake in the Mukondo project. In November 2007 CAMEC and Prairie International, the owner of Tremalt, decided to combine their Mukondo assets into a new holding company operated as a joint venture. Billy Rautenbach would be excluded from ownership in the new company due to the hostile relations that had developed between him and the DRC government. [13]
The new ownership structure consisted of the assets owned 70% by CAMEC, and 30% by Gecamines, with CAMEC issuing a 32.7% equity stake to Gertler's companies.
The venture aimed to extract cobalt from Mukondo, to reopen Kakanda concentrator and to control the copper cobalt SX/EW facility at Luita. [14] In February 2008 the two companies announced that the Mukondo Mountain operations had restarted. [15] In July 2008 CAMEC said the Luita facility, due to be completed later that year, would be the largest of its kind in the world. The target was to produce 100,000 tonnes per year of copper cathode. [16] In July 2009 CAMEC announced a long-term agreement under which CAMEC would deliver its entire annual production of cobalt in concentrate from Mukondo Mountain to Zhejiang Galico Cobalt & Nickel Materials of China. [17]
CAMEC had a stake in the Copper Resources Corporation but it was "disenfranchised", giving Metorex of South Africa an effective economic interest of 99.99%. [18] In May 2009 CAMEC said it had found bauxite on a property in Mali with an inferred resource of 439 million tons. [19] In July 2009 CAMEC said it was conducting a feasibility study at the Bokai platinum prospect in Zimbabwe, due to be completed by September. It expected to start production in 2012. [20]
In September 2009 the Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) of Kazakhstan made a £584-million cash offer for CAMEC. [21] The chairperson Phillippe Edmonds and CEO Andrew Groves both resigned when the deal was closed in November 2009. [22]
Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation PLC (ENRC) was a public, Kazakhstan/Central African-focused, multinational leading diversified natural resources company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It had activities in integrated mining, processing, energy, logistics and marketing.
Tenke Fungurume Mining SA (TFM) is one of the largest copper and cobalt producers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Construction on the site began in the latter part of 2006, and in 2009, TFM produced its first copper. The mine has since become a vital source of income for local communities and the country by way of royalties and taxes, as well as the largest employer in the region.
Muller Conrad "Billy" Rautenbach is a Zimbabwean businessman, whose ventures have included companies involved in transport, cobalt and platinum mining, and biofuel production, primarily in Africa. The 2022 Data Leaks at Credit Suisse appeared to confirm allegations – for which he had faced American and European sanctions in earlier years that Rautenbach used the proceeds from a mining deal to support the ZANU-PF regime of dictator Robert Mugabe, during the latter's repressive 2008 election campaign in Zimbabwe. From 1999 to 2009, Rautenbach was a fugitive from fraud and corruption charges in South Africa.
Copper mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo mainly takes place in the Copper Belt of the southern Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Kolwezi tailings project also known as the Roan Tailings Reclamation is a project in the Kolwezi mining area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to recover copper from the tailings, or processed ore, from mining in the region since the 1950s. The project was developed by the Canadian mining companies Adastra Minerals and then First Quantum Minerals between 2004 and 2009, when the DRC government revoked First Quantum's license. The project is currently majority owned by the Eurasian Resources Group.
The Kambove mines are a group of active or abandoned copper mines near Kambove in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They were originally established by the Union Minière du Haut-Katanga under Belgian rule.
Metorex is a mining company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. It has assets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Zambia and elsewhere. A takeover bid by the Jinchuan Group of China valued the company at US$1.1 billion. Since January 2012, the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Jinchuan Group.
Tilwezembe is an open-pit copper and cobalt mine in Lualaba Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo owned by Katanga Mining, a subsidiary of Glencore. Officially, Glencore has shuttered the mine, but the site is still being used by artisinal miners.
The Ruashi Mine is an open-pit copper and cobalt mine operated by Metorex that is located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Lubumbashi in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The project includes a plant to concentrate the ore from the Ruashi and Etoile mines, and a modern solvent extraction electrowinning (SX-EW) processing plant. As of 2008, annual capacity was estimated to be 10,000 tonnes of copper and 1,000 tonnes of Cobalt.
The Luiswishi mine is an open cut copper and cobalt mine in Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The Dikuluwe Mine is a copper and cobalt mine near to Kolwezi in Lualaba Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Dikuluwe is the westernmost of the Dima Pit group, with Mashamba West and Mashamba East. The quarry was opened in 1975 and was planned to be connected to the nearby Mashamba West pit. The combined Dikuluwe and Mashamba West deposits are now run by La Sino-Congolaise des Mines SA (Sicomines), a joint venture majority owned by a Chinese consortium, with Gécamines holding a minority stake.
Kalukundi Mine is a copper and cobalt mine being developed in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by Africo Resources, a Canadian company. In September 2008 the company estimated the value of the resource as $1.47 billion.
Africo Resources was a Canadian mining company whose main property is the copper and cobalt Kalukundi Mine in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. A majority of the company was acquired by Camrose Resources Limited in 2016.
Tremalt Limited was a mining company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands which owned assets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It was the vehicle for a highly criticized deal in 2001 in which it bought copper assets at far below their estimated value in return for a private agreement to pay a share of profits to the DRC and Zimbabwe governments. Allegedly some of the payments were made in the form of military equipment. The company made few investments in its assets, several of which the DRC government took back. In 2006 it was sold for about $60m.
Dan Gertler is an Israeli billionaire businessman in natural resources and the founder and president of the DGI group of companies. He has diamond and copper mining interests in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and has invested in iron ore, gold, cobalt, oil, agriculture, and banking. He may also hold citizenship of that country. As of 2022 his fortune was estimated at $1.2 billion by Forbes.
Nikanor plc was a publicly quoted holding company for Global Enterprises Corporate (GEC) with assets in the rich Copperbelt region in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Sodimico is a state-owned mining company in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Mukondo Mine is a copper and cobalt mine in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. As of 2011 it was operated by the Central African Mining and Exploration Company. It may be the richest cobalt reserve in the world.
The Luita plant will be the largest copper and cobalt processing plant in Africa, and the largest cobalt facility in the world. It is being built in modules by the Central African Mining and Exploration Company (CAMEC) in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Camrose Resources Limited (Camrose) was a company owned by Dan Gertler, an Israeli businessman, the founder and President of the DGI Group of Companies. Camrose's other assets included a "64% stake in Canada listed Africo Resources which held a 75% interest in the Kalukundi Mine's exploitation licence as well as a 56% indirect interest in Comide Sprl, which held the exploitation licence for Mashitu, Pangalume and Kii tenements."
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