Zinc, copper resurgence good news for Anglesey

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – An expected upward movement in zinc and copper prices bodes well for UK-based Anglesey Mining, which is planning on building a zinc/copper/lead mine in north Wales.

Chairperson John Kearney said on Monday that there were “real signs of resurgence” in the mining industry and that there was a “strong expectation of upward movement in metal prices”, particularly for the metals underpinning the revenue stream of the Parys Mountain copper/zinc/lead project.

“This positive outlook is now being reflected in the capital markets where after several years of depressed market conditions there is renewed investor interest in the mining sector and the opportunity to raise new capital is being demonstrated,” he said in a statement to shareholders.

Kearney added that the strength of the market and the return of investor interest had been reflected in the share price of Anglesey, which had quadrupled in the past 12 months.

Anglesey, which recently completed a positive scoping study for the Parys Mountain project, will soon start discussions with potential financiers or partners for the development of the project.

The base case envisages a mining rate of 1 000 t/d, to produce an average of 14 000 t/y of zinc concentrate, 7 200 t/y of lead concentrate and 4 000 t/y of copper concentrate over an initial mine life of eight years.

Kearney added that the Parys Mountain project would also benefit from a weaker exchange rate, as the sterling might experience weakness in the longer term, owing to the UK’s withdraws from the European Union.