BMR set to agree larger facility for Kabwe plant

Zambia-focused mineral processing business BMR Group said it expects to agree a $3.5m loan facility alongside a sale-and-purchase deal with a private South African firm later this week.

The facility, which at the end of June was only expected to be $2m, is to enable construction of a processing plant at Kabwe in central Zambia and is being agreed alongside a sale and purchase agreement covering agricultural grade zinc sulphate heptahydrate (ZSH) and lead sponge with the South African mining, energy and agri-business group.

BMR, previously known as Berkeley Mineral Resources, recently said the plant was on schedule to be commissioned and begin production in early 2017.

Shares in BMR were up 20% to 3.9p by midday on Monday, still some way short of April's one-year high above 7p and 2010's heady heights above 70p.