A 100%-South African black- empowered and diversified- resources
company, Miner-al Capital Assets (MCA), has signed several
diamond-partnership agreements, of which the most significant is
the joint venture between the company and Service National (SN) of
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The authentication and
notarisation of the deal was concluded last month through the
Department of Foreign Affairs, in Pretoria. During the same signing
ceremony, specialised-metallurgical, mineralogy and geoscience
company, Moruo Development Corporation, of South Africa, was
introduced as the equity and technical partner of MCA. The
agreement entered allows for MCA and its technical partners to
conduct mineral exploration of the 55 000 m2 of land of the
Tshikapa area in the Kasai Province. Moruo will invest about
$10-million in the project and will com- plete geological surveys,
metallurgical processing and mineralogical assessments of the
mineral resources. MCA will explore the secondary deposits anjaw die for crushing equipmentd mine
the five currently-known diamond pipes with a potential of
259-million carats of alluvial diamonds.
Business development director Dan Mazibuko tells Mining Weekly that
the project has a lifespan of 90 years. Phase one will be the
alluvial mining operation, during which research will be conducted
for the exploration for the establishment of a full mine, after
which the com- pany will be moving on to the kimberlite pipes.
“The survey will also determine whether there are other
commodities to mine,” CEO Rashid Kara adds. The anticipated
production of the mine is 10 000 carats a month, which MCA will
increase up to 30 000 carats a month. Yield is estimated at 90crushing of gold in mineral processing
carats per 100 tons, with an average of $200 a carat revenue. The
fullfilment of the agreement presents the parties with several
exploitable benefits and spin-offs for both South Africa and the
DRC. “Bilateral trade between the two countries is going to
be increased by R4-million,” Kara says. Part of the agreement
is that MCA can beneficiate and market the pro-ducts to world
market commodity destinations.
“The effect is that half of the annual production is going to
be exported to South Africa through the Kimberley Process
guidelines for beneficiation, while the other half of the annual
production is going to be sold on open tender to other worcone crushers specificationsld market
destinations,” Mazibuko reports. This activity is expected to
increase the capacity of the country to cut and polish gems into
jewellery for the international market over a long term.
“It will give meaning to the newly-introduced Beneficiation
Amendment Bill.” It is expected that, at local level, the
agreement will ensure job creation, regional development and
provide the foreign currency so desperately needed to stimulate
economic activity and growth for the DRC. “We are trying to
ignite economic growth in support of the New Partnership for
Africa’s Development’s initiations,” Kara
says.
The SN is a specialised public organisation mandated by the DRC
government to undertake some aspects of the reconstruction and
development of the war-torn country under a decree passed in 1997.
Its task is to enter into business agreements with national and
international partners for the legal exploitation of its natural
resources. “One often hears that economists say that Africa
needs an economical miracle, but I believe that Africa just needs
people and companies to be actively involved in the development of
the continent,” Mazibuko says. “People and companies
that put their money where their mouths are.” Kara adds to it
by saying that there are always complaints about war and how it is
going to be stopped, but he believes that economic growth in a
country might be the answer.
MCA believes that it can help develop Africa and the DRC. The
company sees this deal as the realisation of its stated vision of
building a sound and financially-viable company through
partnerships within the mining sector that will ensure effective
black participation and the emergence of a powerful new leader in
the junior-mining industry. MCA also has four alluvial projects
situated in the Lunda Norte province in the north of Angola. The
company partnered with Angolan partners and its technical and
funding partners are Canadians.
The project, with an anticipated lifespan of five to ten years, is
currently in the exploration phase, Mazibuko reports, adding that
it is anticipated to yield 5 000 carats a month in the initial
phase. In March, MCA signed a joint venture with Angel Diamond
Lesotho to mine and develop the Kolo Kimberlite pipe in the
Mafiteng district, in Lesotho. Mazibuko reports that the expected
yield for Kolo is 14 carats per 100 t, with an average price of
$120 to $150 a carat. The project has an expected life of between
seven and ten years. The rough diamonds the company produces will
be polished and cut in its own factory, which MCA is busy setting
up in Rosebank, Gauteng. “We will be training people to work
in the factory,” Mazibuko says. He reports that MCA is
working with the European Gemological Laboratory and the South
African Diamond Board to grade and certify the diamonds.
“Marketing of the diamonds will be done through jewellers to
worldwide destinations and, in certain instances, also to
independent buyers,” he says. MCA is a subsidiary of Bahlodi
Group Holdings, one of the major participants in the public-sector
construction works industry. MCA was established in 2004 and has
investments portfolios and prospective projects in granite,
diamonds, coal, petroleum, cement and construction-related
industries.
Zacharia Musandiwa is the chair of the board of MCA and Kara is the
CEO.