AIM-listed African Consolidated Resources (ACR) says it will submit a proposal in advance to comply with the indigenisation law as the company’s operations continue to expand in Zimbabwe.
Report by Gamma Mudarikiri
This follows an announcement by the company this week that trial mining at its Zimbabwe-based Pickstone-Peerless gold mine was underway, with the aim of having a 20 000 t/m oxide operation in production by the first quarter of 2014.
ACR chief executive officer Craig Hutton said the trial mining was being done in conjunction with a definitive feasibility study on a 20 000 t/m open pit operation, which it expected to be completed by the end of June while a pre-feasibility study on a 50 000 t/m open pit operation and underground mining concept study are to be completed in the third quarter of this year.
The company said it would submit a proposal in line with the legal requirements of the Indigenisation Act.
“ACR has every intention of submitting a proposal in advance of the legal requirement which will in particular confer benefits to the local community surrounding the Pickstone-Peerless Mine” said the company in a statement.
In 2011 the company escaped the pressure to comply with the indigenisation law on the basis that all mining in all its subsidiaries were still in the exploration phase and financed by loans from the parent company.
During that period, an ACR subsidiary, Canape Investment, which is the holding company for the Zimbabwean asset, had a net asset value of below $1.
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According to the indigenisation law, all foreign companies with a net asset value of $500 000 must cede 51% of their shareholding to locals. ACR is multi-commodity resource development company focused on Zimbabwe. The company has been active in Zimbabwe since 2004 with over 12 key projects covering gold, nickel, platinum, copper, phosphate and diamonds.
