Africa-focused miner Cradle Arc has se-cured $10 million in secured debt funding to develop its Mowana openpit copper mine in Botswana. The company estimates for Mowana is 75 million tonnes at 1.15% Cu for 861,000 tonnes of contained copper, the company said in a statement.
"Our new resource model captures our improved understanding of the Mowana opportunity, allowing for better returns to be achieved in the near term as we move from the testing and recovery phase towards steady state operations and our goal of achieving initial nameplate capacity of [about] 12,000 tonnes of copper per annum," said Kevin van Wouw, the chief executive of Cradle Arc. "With a restructured and strengthened balance sheet and clearly defined accelerated development plan, we look forward to establishing Mowana as a major copper producer."
Cradle Arc says its core portfolio includes the Mowana mine and the Matala gold project in Zambia.