/ 9 January 2001

POWER SUPPLY RESTORED AT ROAN MINES

POWER supply has been restored to two mines owned by Zambia’s Roan Antelope Mining Corporation (Ramcoz), paving the way for a resumption of copper production, the company’s receivers said. Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) had reduced electricity supply to Ramcoz’s Luansya and Baluba mines in October in a dispute over a $20m debt. The state-owned Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco) put Ramcoz under receivership in November over an unspecified amount of money it was owed, and urged the new receivers to make a reconnection of power its main priority. Production of finished copper from Ramcoz fell to 7_066 tonnes in the January-August 2000 period from 16 278 in the same period in 1999. Finished cobalt came in at 132 tonnes in the first eight months of 2000, from 300 the year before. – Reuters