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Billiton's Mozal smelter officially opened
Billiton's Mozal aluminium smelter in Mozambique was officially opened on 20 Sep 00. The smelter was completed more than six months ahead of schedule and was $100m under the $1.3bn originally budgeted. It has already produced 5 500 tons of aluminium, which was exported to Europe. The second phase development is currently under consideration and if it is completed, production capacity will be doubled to 500 000 tons per annum. At full production in 2001, phase 1 of the smelter will use 450MW of electricity, which is double the entire electricity consumption of Mozambique.
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Billiton and Pegmont in exploration alliance
Billiton subsidiary Billiton Exploration Australia Pty Ltd and Pegmont Mines have reached an agreement to explore selected base metal projects in the eastern and western successions at Mount Isa, Queensland. The agreement is subject to Pegmont raining capital and listing on the Newcastle Stock Exchange. Billiton will invest A$275 000 (and a further optional A$275 000) in Pegmont, which will be used to test drill at the Pegmont Deeps project. If successful, Billiton has the option to earn up to a 70% interest in the project through sole funding of the project. Billiton may also invest A$400 000 in each of the May Downs and Gun Creek projects and may also earn up to a 70% interest in each of the projects.
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Billiton announces placement details
Billiton has placed 210m ordinary shares with institutional investors at 265p per share to raise £534.6m. The placement was half the requested number of shares.156.1m of the shares were new shares (representing 7.3% of the issued capital) and 53.9m (representing 2.5% of the issued capital) were existing shares held by Strand Investment Holdings Ltd. The proceeds will be used for the financing of acquisitions, including the proposed acquisition of Worsley.
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Numsa plans strike over Billiton layoffs
The National union of Metal Workers of SA is planning a large scale strike in retaliation against Billiton's proposed layoff of 5 000 workers as part of the process of closing several of its divisions and furnaces. The strike will be on the agenda of Cosatu's upcoming seventh congress.
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Billiton may be outbid by Noranda
Noranda may increase its bid for Rio Algom to C$27.50 per share in an attempt to outbid Billiton, which has bid C$27.00 per share. However the bid is not seen as high enough because of Billiton's break free agreement with Rio which equates to C$1.10 per share. This effectively increases Billiton's bid toC$28.10 were Rio to accept an alternative offer.
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Billiton acquires a 1/3 stake in Carbones
Anglo and Glencore, the current equal owners of Carbones del Cerrejon, have agreed to sell a one third interest in the project to Billiton. The transaction is expected to be completed by 15 Sep 00.
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Billiton in Canadian zinc joint venture
Billiton and Copper Ridge Exploration Inc have signed a letter of intent to develope the Howards Pass zinc deposit on the Yukon - Northwest Territories border in Canada. The deposit is believed to be one of the largest undeveloped zinc deposits in the world. Copper Ridge has recently signed an agreement with Placer Dome to acquire 100% of Howards Pass for C$10m paid over 4 years. Copper Ridge will commit C$3m to a C$2m concept study and a C$1m payment to Placer Dome). Billiton will make a private placement totaling C$200 000 to be used by Copper Ridge for an initial drilling programme. A second placement of C$200 000 will follow the announcement of the successful completion of a due diligence by Billiton. (expected to be by 15 Oct 00). Following the concept study, Billiton can elect to acquire a 50% interest in the Howards Pass project by spending C$5.5m towards the completion of a pre-feasibility study (by 15 Nov 02). A further C$7m will be spent on further development, including the payments to Placer Dome. Billiton will then have a second option to acquire and additional 20% of the project by providing financing for all further work to commercial production. Copper Ridge's 30% of costs will be repaid through its share of cash flow.
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| Closing price data source: JSE Ltd. All other statistics calculated by ProfileData. |
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