Mining investment firm Zambia Copper Investments (ZCI) and the Botswana Stock Exchange-listed African Copper (ACU) have completed the refinancing of the bridging loan which ZCI provided to ACU in May 2009.
A new four-year secured credit facility worth more than $31 million places ACU's borrowings on a more permanent footing by replacing two loans worth a total of $32.4 million.
ACU said that the recapitalisation would help its operations to grow to their full potential.
The company was involved in a hotly-disputed takeover bid between Natasa Mining and Zambia Copper which resulted in ZCI increasing its stake to 82 percent after finalising a share subscription.
Operations ceased at ACU for a while after commodity prices crashed however it resumed operations again in August after receiving funding from ZCI.
Mowana is likely to advance to steady state nameplate production through the coming quarters, the base-metals miner said in a statement.
Last week African Copper announced that it will install a mobile crushing unit and amend the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) at its flagship Mowana mine in north-eastern Botswana to remove bottlenecks hampering the ramp-up to full capacity.
The company reached what it described as "encouraging" levels of production in October and November, but lower plant availability impacted on output in December and January.
Copper recoveries increased in October and November, reaching 57.3 percent in November, against a targeted recovery rate of 57 percent before declining, together with ore processed, due to lower Secondary and Tertiary plant availability in December and January. This was caused by high crusher liner wear and heavy rain that adversely affected the consistency of the ore and hindered the flow of materials.
The company says management has now moved quickly to address these two bottlenecks that are currently preventing the mine from ramping up towards full plant capacity.
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