Zambia Albidon To Fast Track Munali Nickel Mine Development-Co

Apr. 13 -- Albidon Ltd. (ALB.AU) is seeking to fast track the development of Zambia's sole nickel producer, Munali Nickel Mine, in a bid to profit from favorable nickel prices on the international market, company officials said Tuesday.

The company is aiming to increase annual ore output to 1.2 million metric tons by 2012 from the current 950,000 tons by fast-tracking its mine development plan in order to access higher grade nickel ores, a company official said by telephone from Zambia.

Last month, Albidon signed a new mine development deal with its Australia-based contractor, Byrnecut Offshore, which has since slashed mining costs by around 15%.

Company data show Munali registered a record revenue of over $7 million from nickel production in March, up 50% from the average of January and February.

"The increase in revenue exceeded the company's budget for March 2011 but is in line with the company's expectation of continual increases in grade and, importantly, recovery," the company said in a statement last week.

Albidon suspended output at the mine in 2008 amid low global metal prices during the global economic downturn. The company was also forced to delist its shares and move into administration. However, output was resumed earlier last year after Jinchuan Group acquired a majority stake in Albidon.

Jinchuan has since invested at least $37 million at the mine.

Zambia, Africa's largest copper producer, wants to diversify its copper-dominated mining sector by encouraging investments in exploration and mine developments in other minerals base and precious metals.