News

June 11, 2008

Weatherly International Retreats From Kombat

By Rob Davies

The South African power crisis has had much wider effects than many people, including Minews, have realised. One unforeseen casualty was the Kombat copper mine owned by Weatherly International in Namibia, now flooded and closed because of the problems Eskom had and still has. In fact it wasn’t the power cuts that did the damage but the surge when Eskom brought the power back on that knocked out the transformers, according to Rod Webster, Weatherly’s chief executive. Although at 5,000 tonnes per year it wasn’t a big producer, the mine did help provide feed for the company’s smelter and it also employed a lot of people. Rod said that life had been quite difficult in the immediate aftermath but that after readjusting the business by laying off 200 people the cash flow situation has stabilised again.

That wasn’t the only bit of excitement Rod has had to contend with this year. In February Weatherly announced it had been approached by another company with a view to an offer being made. In the event the two sides could not quite agree so discussions were terminated in mid May. Rod wouldn’t disclose who the other party was but he says they are still watching the situation. In the end the talks failed on the terms of the deal, which would have been an all paper one. Nevertheless, it is nice to...