* Mowana mine output halted in 2015 during commodity crash
* Next target 20,000 tonnes a year after 12,000 tonnes
* Company raised $10 million in debt to revive mine
LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - Copper producer Cradle Arcis increasing output to 12,000 tonnes per year at aBotswana mine it has restarted and is seeking more mining assetsin the African nation to take advantage of rising metals prices,the chief executive said.
Production was halted at Botswana's Mowana mine in 2015,when copper prices fell, in line with a wider commodity crash.
Copper prices at around $6,700 a tonne have risenmore than 50 percent since falling to nearly $4,300 a tonne atthe start of 2016.
After securing debt funding worth $10 million, CEO Kevin vanWouw said the mine would accelerate development to lift outputto 12,000 tonnes per year over the next three to four months.
The goal after that would be 20,000 tonnes per year, headded.
Longer-term, many analysts are bullish on copper because ofdemand linked to electric vehicles and the expansion ofelectrical grids around the world.
Van Wouw wants to increase his base metals exposure inBotswana. "There are numerous assets on the block. We arelooking at a number of them," he said in a telephone interview,without giving details.
Cradle Arc, formerly known as Alecto Minerals, relaunchedwith a listing on London's AIM market for small companies inJanuary, raising 5.65 million pounds ($8 million) to support theMowana mine.
($1 = 0.7086 pounds)(Reporting by Barbara LewisEditing by Edmund Blair and David Evans)