The Sepon Gold and Copper Mine in Savannakhet province will keep its workforce and operating policy unchanged
despite having new Chinese ownership, a senior mine manger has said. Mr Richard Taylor of Lane Xang Minerals Ltd., which operates the mine in central
Laos, made the announcement at a press conference in Vientiane yesterday amid widespread speculation the Chinese state-owned company would change the mine’s
after taking it over this week. Minmetals this week paid US$1.3 billion to acquire most of the Australia-based OZ Minerals’ assets, including the Sepon Gold and Copper mine in Laos. The change in ownership has resulted in the establishment of the Minerals and Metals Group (MMG) as the parent company of Lane Xang Minerals Limited in Laos. Mr Taylor, who is MMG’s Group Manager of Corporate Affairs for Asia, said although Lane Xang Minerals had a new parent company, the change would not affect its commitments to the Lao government, workers and communities around the mining sites. “The name change brings to an end a diffi cult period for the company and means we can look forward to a bright future. We want to grow at
Sepon and deliver the potential we know exists in the project,” he said. Mr Taylor also said MMG was an Australian registered company based in Australia and had a strong commitment to comply with Australian mining standards and policies. According to a press release from MMG Lane Xang Minerals Company, MMG will be led by former OZ Minerals COE Andrew Michelmore, who has a strong commitment to keeping the same management team and adhering to mining project policies, including that of Sepon. MMG has a commitment to improve performance and maintain high standards on safety, environment and community relations to ensure great benefits are achieved for all MMG stakeholders in Australia
and company sites, the press release stated. Another Lane Xang Minerals Limited manager, Mr Saman Aneka, said the company would continue to allocate about US$500,000 a year to a trust fund to develop local communities around the Sepon mining project. He also said the new Chinese investors had promised to follow the same commitments made by Lane Xang Minerals to the Lao
government. MMG has assumed ownership of several mining projects from OZ Minerals in Australia, North America and Asia. The Sepon Gold and Copper Mine employs more than 1,000 workers and has contributed about US$280 million in taxes to the government since it began operation in 2003. The mine is one of the most productive in Asia.
OZ Minerals decided to sell most of its assets to the Chinese company after struggling to maintain a profit and pay its bank debts when the price of copper plummeted last year during the global financial crisis. The Chinese company’s ownership of OZ Minerals will enable the Sepon mine to access capital, one of the main conditions necessary for healthy business operation.
No surprise to me Chinese will take over the whole country only time will tell. You wait and see for the next 10 years every business and avaible land even own some Lao government officials and indirectly to change the constitution and Laws .
