Hana Mining, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) quoted entity scouting for copper- silver resources along the Ghantsi Belt, last week warned local investors about its plans to flout on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE).
“We are certainly planning to list on the BSE,” Johannes Tsimako of Hana Mining told The Telegraph on the sidelines of┬áthe annual Botswana Resource Conference.
The move will give steam to resource sector listings on the BSE this year. Firestone Diamonds and Botswana Diamonds have entered the bourse while African Energy Resource and Lucara Diamonds are finalising plans to flout.
The company is┬áhighly considering┬áa stand – alone mine along what it┬ácalls┬áBanana Zone,┬áwhich it said has a potential of 6 billion pounds of copper.
Presently, the┬ácompany ownership is┬áconcentrated in North AmericaÔÇö Canada and the United States of America ÔÇô and Europe.
The move to list in Botswana will add weight to the citizen economic empowerment scheme as local institutional investors might take interest in the stock.
The Ghanzi Belt is one of the areas that are said to be rich in copper and silver deposit within the boundaries of Botswana.
He told the conference that it is cash rich with 20 million Canadian dollars in the bank while the exploration exercise is budgeted for 16 million Canadian dollars.
Hana Mining┬ácontrols┬á70 percent under the current joint-venture arrangement┬áand┬áan additional 20 percent ÔÇô that will push its stake to 90 percent ÔÇö┬áwill be earned in┬áthrough the completion of bankable feasibility studies, Tsimako said.
The area to be covered has five prospecting licences and he said they have only done 11 percent of the job.
Hana Mining has long indicated that it has plans┬áfor eventually operating a copper-silver open pit mine at Banana Zone ÔÇô outside GhanziÔÇöcloser to D’Kar and another mining activity at Chalcocite Zone.
However, the company is not looking at plans of building a town in the hotly contested Central Kgalagadi Game Reserve (CKGR) but instead Tsimako said they will eventually use Kuke settlement for their camping purposes.
It would be the second company after Gem Diamonds to operate in the environmentally sensitive area.
The move comes as the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) listed company is working around the clock to obtain a mining license for the area within a year.
The company is also working on plans to confirm the resource on the projects by 2011 and apply for the mining license between 2011/12, while the commissioning of the mine is slated for 2014.
Last year, the company was granted the local asset status by Non Banking Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) that will enable it to raise cash locally if need arises.
Hana Mining has a concession area of 2,169 kilometers where it is presently exploring copper-silver deposits.
The Ghanzi area is expected to benefit from a raft of national developments, which include the proposed Botswana- Namibia rail line and the expansion of Moropule Power Plant.
