Bellzone successfully renegotiates Kalia Mine convention

Bellzone Mining announced on Thursday that negotiations, including approval for the ferronickel project, had concluded “satisfactorily” after it confirmed negotiations were underway to update and amend the 2010 mining convention for the Kalia Mine on 29 March.

The AIM-traded firm said the resulting provisionally-agreed addendum to the 2010 Mining convention was going through the official approval process with the expectation that it will be signed by Guinean ministers and ratified by the Guinean National Assembly in the coming weeks.

On the funding front, the company said the $6.5m loan agreed by Hudson Global Group on 24 December 2015 for the purpose of funding Bellzone's working capital requirements - other than feasibility study work - for the financial year ended 31 December 2016 was fully drawn, as announced on 29 March 2017.

On 28 December 2016, Bellzone announced a further loan of $4.0m had been agreed with Hudson Global Group for the purpose of funding Bellzone's working capital requirements for the financial year ended 31 December 2017.

Bellzone completed the first drawdown of $0.8m under that loan on 6 June, with the remaining funds available under the loan now expected to provide working capital through to the end of June 2018.

The company said it retained separate funds sufficient for the completion of the feasibility study work on the Ferronickel project at Kalia.

“On behalf of the board, I would like to thank the executive team of Bellzone for their hard work in reaching a provisional agreement with Guinean Ministers,” said chairman Michael Farrow.

“We very much look forward to the approval and ratification of the agreement which will enable Bellzone to re-commence work on the Kalia Ferronickel project as quickly as possible.”