Singapore 11/07/2016 - China's Zijin Mining is planning to issue 4.8 billion yuan ($717 million) in non-public shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and will use most of the proceeds for the construction of its Kolwezi copper mine project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Zijin's board has proposed issuing around 1.55 billion 'A' shares to not more than 10 specific investors including Minxi Xinghang, the controlling shareholder of the company, and its employee stock ownership scheme, Zijin said in a filing on the Hong Kong exchange on Monday.
It proposes that Minxi Xinghang subscribe not more than 291 million 'A' shares for 900 million yuan and the employee scheme not more than 130 million 'A' shares for 401.7 million yuan.
Around 3.4 billion yuan will go to the mine construction, 1.3 billion yuan to working capital and 105 million yuan to an expansion project at subsidiary Zijin Copper Co.
The share issuance is still subject to shareholders and regulatory approvals.
Production at the Kolwezi mine in Katanga province is scheduled to commence in the first half of 2017, with capacity ultimately set to reach 7,212 tonnes per year of copper concentrates (containing 60 percent copper), 43,616 tonnes per year of crude copper (containing 90 percent copper) and 8,203 tonnes per year of copper cathode.
(Editing by Mark Shaw)