Lead News: Bulgaria's Intertrust Seeks $150m

Lead News: Bulgaria's Intertrust Seeks $150m

Bulgarian lead and zinc producer Intertrust Holdings is seeking $150 million to upgrade its smelters and double output and sales.

The company’s Olovno Tzinkov Komplex AD smelter will be completed by 2013 and will help almost double annual sales to $220 million.

Bulgaria’s Environment Ministry approved a 40 million-euro ($51.7 million) upgrade of the lead smelter a week ago and the company now has to raise the funding said Chairman Valentin Zahariev.

Intertrust is also building an 80 million-euro galvanized steel plant near Sofia on the site of an old pipe factory, with planned output of 600,000 tons of galvanized steel a year.

“We need to raise a total of $150 million to complete our investment projects,” said Mr Zahariev. “We have applied for financing from U.S. funds for part of it. We will also consider other forms including an IPO, corporate bonds or bank loans. It all depends on the cost.”

Intertrust has already borrowed 85 million euros in loans from Swiss banks to upgrade its zinc smelter, he said. Asturiana de Zinc SA, a Spanish zinc producer, designed the project and supplied the equipment.

The modernised zinc smelter will increase output from 24,000 tons in 2009 to 45,000 tons, while the lead smelter will double output to 60,000 tons.

“The modernization of the two units will help cut pollution, reduce greenhouse emissions, improve the quality of all of our products, double output and cut costs,” said Mr Zahariev.

Apart from the Gorubso mines in Madan in southern Bulgaria, Intertrust also runs five metal, tool and engineering plants in Serbia. Eight-five percent of its output is exported, mostly to Italy, Germany, Austria and Turkey.

Dundee Precious Metals Posts Q4 Profit

Canadian-based gold miner Dundee Precious Metals Inc. has announced a profit for the fourth quarter of C$3.7 million. This compares with a fourth quarter 2008 net loss of C$80.0 million.

For the year ended 31 December 2009, the Company had net earnings of C$5.0 million compared with a net loss of C$79.2 million in 2008.

Commenting on the unaudited results, President and CEO Jonathan Goldman said "A combination of strong metal prices and improved operating performance and efficiencies at Chelopech and Deno Gold contributed to solid earnings for 2009, which, when adjusted for a $6.4 million non-cash, tax-related valuation allowance, was $11.4 million. Construction of the mine/mill expansion at Chelopech is underway and on schedule for completion in the second half of 2011. In addition, underground exploration at the mine has identified two new ore zones and 1.43 million tonnes of Measured and Indicated Resource, more than offsetting the amount of ore mined during 2009."

DPM owns the Chelopech Mine, a gold/copper concentrate producer and the Krumovgrad gold project, a mining development project, both located in Bulgaria, and has a 95% stake in the Kapan Mine, a gold / copper / zinc concentrate producer in southern Armenia. In addition, DPM holds significant exploration and exploitation concessions in some of the larger gold-copper-silver mining regions in Serbia.

Bulgaria, China Sign $800mn Copper Deal

Bulgaria and China signed a major copper deal Thursday during a visit to Sofia by Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping who pledged to further boost trade and investment between the two countries.

Aurubis Bulgaria, a subsidiary of German-based Aurubis, Europe's leading copper smelter, signed an 800-million-dollar (536-million-euro) deal with China's largest metals trader China Minmetals.

The deal, to run until 2015, was signed at a ceremony in Sofia attended by Xi, who arrived on a two-day visit to Bulgaria on Thursday, and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

Five other contracts were also inked at the ceremony, including another 19-million-dollar (13-million-euro) copper deal with China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group.

Addressing a business forum earlier, Xi hailed the "dynamic development of trade and economic cooperation" between the two countries.

"Bulgaria is now China's most important trading partner on the Balkans," Xi said.

The value of overall trade between the two countries amounts to 1.26 billion dollars, according to data compiled by the economy ministry.

But Bulgaria imports a lot more from China (1.1 billion dollars) than it exports to China (157.2 million dollars), giving it a trade deficit with China of 952.5 million dollars.

Most of Bulgaria's exports to China are copper, aluminium and lead ore.

Xi said the Chinese market was "huge and widely open for Bulgarian products such as nonferrous metals, wine, rose oil and yoghurt."

"I am convinced that with the common steady efforts of our two governments, trade and economic institutions and entrepreneurs, the economic cooperation between China and Bulgaria will receive a new impetus," Xi said.

He pointed to the success of China's investments in the Bulgarian automobile, telecommunications, energy efficiency and environment protection sectors and said that telecoms, tourism, logistics and infrastructure would be possible key sectors for Chinese investment in the future.

Source: AFP

Bulgaria's LZC Receives Permission To Expand

The leading Bulgarian non ferrous metals producer, Lead and Zinc Complex Jsc has received permission for modernization and expansion of its facilities.

LZC has been granted a permit for building a new plant in the southern city of Kardzhali where its manufacturing operations are based. The execution of the projects provides for increasing the zinc production capacity by 40% and reaching the highest zinc mark of 99,995. The new plant is expected to be constructed by the end of 2011. The project also involves modernization of the production with new environment friendly technology which has already been purchased and is worth EUR 40 million.

Mr Dzhevdet Chakurov former environment minister of Bulgaria from the DPS party refused to grant a permit for LZC’s expansion for 3 years.

The majority owner of the LZC Jsc is Intertrust Holding which is owned by the Bulgarian millionaire Mr Valentin Zahariev.

Mr Zahariev said recently that his company would file a suit against the government over the blockage of the LZC investment. He has been quoted by the Dnevnik Daily as saying that the reasons for the delay were probably political.

Source: Steel Guru

OTZK Sees No Change In Production

Bulgaria's second largest lead and zinc smelter, OTZK, says that it expects to produce 27,000 tonnes of zinc this year, practically the same as it did in 2008 despite the global financial crisis.

Roberto Mladenov, chief executive of Intertrust, which controls OTZK, said the smelter, on the outskirts of Kardzhali in southern Bulgaria, also sees lead production to be similar to last year at 24,000-27,000 tonnes.

OTZK's lead production was 23,700 tonnes in 2008, down by 5.2 percent from its initial forecast of 25,000 tonnes.

"There will be no changes (in our output targets). We are not going to either increase or cut them," Mladenov told Reuters in a telephone conversation.

OTZK, which exports 85 percent of its production, plans to further reduce its staff by 150 people this year after cutting some 200 jobs in 2008.

Last month, Bulgaria's largest zinc and lead smelter, KCM, said it would cut zinc output by 16 percent to 63,000 tonnes and lead output by 9 percent to 59,000 tonnes.

Source: Reuters