Key points
- Nine-month loss was $2,573,000 ($0.08 per share) versus $1,355,000 in 1996, while income fell to $864,000 from $1,193,000 and cash and short-term investments rose to $16,625,000.
- On February 4, 1997 Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy granted the company a 15-year mining licence over approximately 150 sq km of the Koichab area in Luderitz Bay.
- The US$15 million NAMSSOL seabed mining tool, developed with SubSea Offshore (a Dresser Industries company), is designed to recover one million cubic metres of material per year via centrifugal pumping.
- The company’s mining vessel, to be named Kovambo, is being modified in Bremerhaven, Germany for about US$3 million under a five-year charter and is due in Cape Town in July 1997 to receive a 50 tonne-per-hour dense media separation plant built by Van Eck & Lurie.
Income for the nine month period was $864,000 (1996: $1,193,000). Loss for the nine months was $2,573,000 (1996: $1,355,000) and the loss per share was $0.08 (1996: $0.06).
Resource property costs for the period were $4,440,000 (1996:
$10,011,000). At the end of the period total cash and short term
investments was $16,625,000 (1996: $12,565,000).
The company’s development of its mining project off the coast of Namibia progressed well throughout the period and commissioning is on target for third quarter 1997.
The US$15 million project in collaboration with SubSea Offshore, a
Dresser Industries company, involves the design and construction of a
seabed mining tool, the NAMSSOL. The tool will be totally self-supported
from a mother ship, on which all processing will be carried out. The
NAMSSOL is designed to recover one million cubic metres of material per year from the ocean floor through its centrifugal pumping system. It is specified to mine between 0.3 and 0.4 sq km per year and to be operational for an average of 300 days per year. Mining will commence in the Koichab area of the company’s Luderitz Bay grant in approximately 70 metres of water.
The company has secured its mining vessel for the project. It is currently being modified in Bremerhaven, Germany, with owner’s modifications costing approximately US$3 million. The vessel has been chartered for five years with options to extend for a further five years and will be named Kovambo in honour of Namibia’s First Lady. It is scheduled to arrive in Cape Town in July
1997 for installation of the 50 tonne per hour dense media separation plant
which is being built by Van Eck & Lurie, a Bateman’s company.
The company has completed its mining licence application and submitted its environmental impact assessment report and environmental management
plan to the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy during the period. On February 4 1997 the ministry granted the company a 15 year mining licence
over approximately 150 sq km of the Koichab area.
Subsequent to the end of the period, the company has announced the
acquisition of diamond concession areas in Angola and Zaire. In Angola,
initial agreements have been concluded over three concessions of the Lunda
Norte province, totalling 664 sq km. This includes a 50 km stretch of the
Chicapa River, an area of significant Angolan diamond production.
In Zaire, the company has acquired a 70% interest over ten exploration
licences and one mining permit encompassing a 262 sq km area.
The company views the acquisitions as part of its growth strategy to become a significant African diamond producer. In April 1 1997 the company listed its shares on the NASDAQ. The trading symbol is NMCOF.
The company continued its policy of community participation in Namibia by
contributing to health, education and wildlife schemes throughout the period.
