The Company’s primary focus is the development of the Lumwana Copper Mine in Zambia; the world’s fastest growing copper exporting country.
Situated 220 km northwest of the world renowned Copperbelt, Equinox owns 100% of Lumwana. This is a project of recognized international scale for which the Company is fully funded and in construction. Mine financing arrangements in place include a US$583.8 million debt facility, a US$49.0 million cost overrun facility, and equity totalling some US$427 million.
With proven and probable reserves totalling 321 million tones of ore grading at 0.73% copper, Lumwana represents one of the largest fully permitted copper projects in the world currently under construction and the largest new mine seen in Zambia in 40 years.
Lumwana is expected to process 20 million tonnes per year of ore to produce copper concentrates containing an average of 169,000 tpa (373 million lbs/year) of copper metal over the initial six year period and an average of 122,000 tpa (269 million lbs/year) of contained copper metal over the life of mine (37 years). For the first 5 years, 100% of all scheduled Lumwana production has been contracted to firm “take and pay” contracts with Zambian smelters.
Lumwana construction activities commenced in January 2006 and passed 75% completeion in November 2007. Construction remains on schedule under a fixed-price, fixed-schedule EPC contract. Mine commissioning is expected late Q2 2008 with first ever revenue shortly thereafter.
Equinox is progressing towards its objective of operating Africa’s largest copper producing mine and of transforming the Company into a mid-tier copper producer and becoming a Mining House of Scale.
Zambia & Exploring in Zambia
Zambia is a stable Southern African country with a functioning multi-party democracy. Mining provides more than 85% of the country's annual foreign exchanges earnings. Zambia has been a commercial copper producer for over 70 years.
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