Berkeley Mineral receives approval for Zambian mining project

Berkerley Mineral Resources' (BMR) wholly owned subsidiary Enviro Processing Limited (EPL) has received approval from the Zambian Environmental Management Agency for its lead-zinc recovery and copper processing at Kabwe. The approval is subject to conditions relating to the monitoring of protection for water and air quality at the Kabawe site. EPL is expected to implement the project within three years.Chairman Masoud Alikhani said: "From now on, our focus can and will be on commencing production. We will also be concluding off-take agreements for sales of the metals into world markets".The company saw its share drop in June after it said authorities had decided to defer a decision on the environmental impact statement while it consulted with stakeholders.BMR will now carry out final studies so that pilot production can start as soon as possible. In the meantime, EPL will begin small scale processing of copper ore locally.As of 11:03 the share price had risen 11.43% to 2p.WS