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Mining & Natural Resources
The Munali Nickel Project, which is 100% owned
by Albidon, is located approximately 60 kilometres
south of Zambia’s capital city, Lusaka. The Munali
project area comprises of the Enterprise deposit and
a number of other nickel prospects in the Munali In-
trusion, the most advanced of which is the Voyager
prospect along the northern stretch of the Enterprise
deposit.
The first production of nickel concentrates was real-
ized in mid 2008.
The Enterprise project will produce approximately
10,000 - 10,500 pa of nickel concentrate from a
1,200,000 pa underground mining operation involv-
ing in straightforward extraction methods and con-
ventional processing technology. Enterprise forms
the initial part of the Munali growth strategy, which is
targeted to economically exploit the other identified
lower grade nickel deposits at Munali through the ef-
fective application of additional process technology
such as Dense Media Separation (‘DMS’).
The Munali Project is one the few new nickel sul-
phide developments planned worldwide for the
coming years. The project will deliver a high quality
bulk concentrate into a market that is characterized
by strong demand and limited supply. Munali is ex-
pected to be low on the cost curve of nickel produc-
ers with a final direct cash operating cost of approxi-
mately US$3 per pound of nickel in concentrate.
Albidon’s large license holdings in southern and
eastern Zambia also have potential for substantial
uranium deposits, as confirmed by the recently an-
nounced positive pre-feasibility study on the Chirun-
du Uranium Projects.
BHP BILLITON
Johnny Velloza
Program Manager
1278 Lubuto Rd.
Rhodes Park Lusaka
Tel: +260-211-250266
Johnny.Velloza@bhpbilliton.com
www.bhpbilliton.com
BHP Billiton is a global leader in the resources indus-
try. Formed from a merger between BHP and Billiton
in 2001, they bring together an exceptional mix of
quality, low-cost resource assets, complemented by
a strong management team determined to operate
their assets in an efficient manner. They have finan-
cial strength through their cash flow and balance
sheet, a diversity of products and customers, as well
as access to global capital markets and an enviable
platform of growth opportunities.
As at June 2009 they had approximately 40,990
employees working in over 100 operations in 25
countries. Reflecting their aim to be a premier global
company, they occupy significant positions in major
commodity businesses, including aluminium, energy
coal and metallurgical coal, copper, manganese,
iron ore, uranium, nickel, silver and titanium miner-
als, and have substantial interests in oil, gas, lique-
fied natural gas and diamonds. The central tenet of
the BHP Billiton business model is that its diversified
portfolio of high quality assets provides stable cash
flows and an enhanced capacity to drive growth. In
FY2009, they generated revenue of US$50.2 billion.
Prior to the BHP and Billiton merger, Billiton began
exploration operations in Zambia in the late 1990’s.
This was an effort to explore for copper outside of
the traditional Copperbelt and harness the potential
of the largely unexplored Western Province. After
the merger in 2001, BHP Billiton began to establish
a larger presence through an increase in the com-
pany’s exploration projects and activities. This was
largely due to the vast potential that lies in Zambian
mining. In 2009, following an enforced slowdown as
a consequence of the global financial crisis, BHP
Billiton Minerals Exploration completed an in-depth
strategic review of their business. The focus of this
review was two-fold, firstly what commodities does
the organization need over the foreseeable future
and where in the world does the organization need
to be looking for these commodities. BHP Billiton is
firmly of the opinion that Zambia holds great poten-
tial in undiscovered mineral deposits but it is also a
country that offers an environment that is conducive
to large-scale investment.
BHP has completed many aeromagnetic surveys in
different areas of Zambia that have identified a num-
ber of anomalies that are showing potential for ex-
ploration. They have established 28 targets on which
they have plans to begin drilling exploratory holes
in order to establish if the prospect is an Iron Oxide
Copper Gold (IOCG) type of body, thereby making it
feasible for further development. If the initial results
are positive, they will then set up a larger, more per-
manent operation to further explore the potential of
the prospect.
One of BHP’s largest operations in Zambia is a joint
venture project with ASX Listed Blackthorn Resourc-
es known as the Mumbwa IOCG project. BHP Bil-
liton holds a 40% stake in the project. In 2010 the