MUMBAI, India, November 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
Sesa Sterlite announces that its Board
of Directors has approved development of Gamsberg-Skorpion
Integrated Zinc Project in South
Africa and Namibia for
US$782 million, to be invested over a
3 year period, to develop an open-pit zinc mine in Gamsberg,
South Africa, as well as the
conversion of the Skorpion Zinc Refinery in neighbouring
Namibia.
(Logo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140117/663814 )
The majority of the investment,
approximately US$630 million, will go
towards developing an open-pit zinc mine, concentrator plant and
associated infrastructure at Gamsberg, one of world's largest
undeveloped zinc deposits. The balance of the investment will be
used to convert the refinery at the Skorpion Mine in Rosh Pinah,
Namibia thereby enabling it to
refine zinc concentrates from the Gamsberg mine into special
high-grade zinc metal.
"The Gamsberg-Skorpion Integrated Zinc Project is central to
Vedanta's long term aspirations for Southern Africa," said Mr Tom Albanese, CEO of Sesa Sterlite. "It will
also allow Vedanta to make a significant contribution to enabling
the South African government achieve its goal of using the
country's vast mineral wealth to help fight poverty and uplift
communities through the creation of sustainable, long-term
employment opportunities. This project provides significant
synergies to both our operations and compliments the needs of the
region."
Vedanta estimates that the Gamsberg project, which is located
near the town of Aggeneys in South
Africa's Northern Cape Province, will create 1,500 jobs
during construction and result in approximately 500 permanent jobs.
The Gamsberg project will be operated under the auspices of Black
Mountain Mining (BMM) which is 74% owned by Sesa Sterlite Ltd. The
remaining 26% interest in BMM is held by Exxaro Resources Limited,
a diversified resources company listed on the Johannesburg Stock
Exchange.
"The output from Gamsberg, coupled with extending the life of
the world class refinery at the Skorpion mine in Namibia, will make the Southern African region
one of the most important suppliers of refined zinc globally," said
Mr. Albanese. "That will also result in these operations forming
one of the cornerstones of our operations in Africa and will partially offset the loss of
volume resulting from the end of life of mine at Lisheen in
Ireland."
The first phase of the Gamsberg open pit mine is expected to
have a total lifespan of approximately 13 years with the first ore
likely to be produced in 2017/18.
For Further information, please contact
About Sesa Sterlite Limited
Sesa Sterlite Limited (SSLT) is one of the world's largest
diversified natural resources companies, whose business primarily
involves exploring and processing minerals and oil & gas. SSLT
produces oil & gas, zinc, lead, silver, copper, iron ore,
aluminium and commercial power and has a presence across
India, South Africa, Namibia, Ireland, Australia, Liberia and Sri
Lanka. Sustainability is at the core of SSLT's strategy,
with a strong focus on health, safety and environment and on
enhancing the lives of local communities.
SSLT is a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Plc, a London-listed company. SSLT is listed on the
Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange in
India and has ADRs listed on the
New York Stock Exchange.
Disclaimer
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" - that
is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this
context, forward-looking statements often address our expected
future business and financial performance, and often contain words
such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes,"
"seeks," "should" or "will." Forward-looking statements by their
nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain.
For us, uncertainties arise from the behavior of financial and
metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuations in
interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future
integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters
of national, regional and global scale, including those of a
political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature.
These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be
materially different that those expressed in our forward-looking
statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking
statements.
Sesa Sterlite Limited
(Formerly known as Sesa Goa Limited)
Vedanta, 75, Nehru Road,
Vile Parle (East), Mumbai - 400
099
http://www.sesasterlite.com
Registered Office:
Sesa Ghor, 20 EDC Complex,
Patto, Panaji (Goa) - 403 001
CIN: L13209GA1965PLC000044
Communications
Roma Balwani
Executive Vice President - Group Communications
& CSR
Tel: +91-22-6646-1330
gc@vedanta.co.in
Investor Relations
Ashwin Bajaj
Senior Vice President - Investor Relations
Sheetal Khanduja
Associate General Manager - Investor Relations
Tel: +91-22-6646-1531
Sesasterlite.ir@vedanta.co.in