Production at Geovic Mining Corp.'s cobalt-nickel-manganese project in Cameroon is now set for 2012 after a delay due to the global financial crisis, the company said.
The firm's Nkamouna project, originally due to start operations in 2010, was delayed and investment scaled back because of weak metals prices and the difficulty of raising funds.
"It is just a delay. In fact, all is now set for production to start in 2012, although I cannot give you an exact date yet," said Richard Howe, managing director of Geovic Cameroon, Geovic's 60 percent owned subsidiary.
Howe told Reuters in an interview on Thursday that Toronto-listed Geovic and Cameroonian shareholders had come up with the funds needed to keep work on track.
Geovic has said it expected to produce 4,200 tonnes of cobalt and 2,100 tonnes of nickel annually for at least 21 years from deposits which it estimates at reaching at least 54 million tonnes of ore.
This would make Geovic one of the world's biggest producers of cobalt, a hard and durable metal used in aircraft engines and increasingly in batteries for hybrid cars.
Prices of cobalt have crashed to $14.50 per lb from last year's highs of over $52 per lb, but Geovic has said the project in Cameroon would be profitable even at $8 per lb.
"Currently, Geovic is performing bench and pilot-scale tests aimed at increasing cobalt yields, reducing capital and operating costs, and lowering overall process risks," Howe said.
Howe said the project was expected to contribute more than $250 million a year to Cameroon's gross domestic product.
Source: Moneybiz
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