Times of Zambia reported that management at the Albidon Limited owned Munali Nickel Mine has assured the Mineworkers Union of Zambia that the firm will resume operations in January 2012.

Mr Nkole Chishimba general secretary of MUZ, who led a delegation for an on the sport check and meeting with management, said that Albidon expressed confidence about restarting operations in mid January 2012.

Mr Chishimba said the mine was not operational after being placed under care and maintenance because the recovery rate, production levels and low world nickel pieces made it unviable. He added that "Management told us that they will start operations by mid January 2012 because by then, they will have found an equity partner. For now, all workers would continue to draw a salary."

Mr Chishimba called on the government, as a shareholder to play a proactive role in order to prevent such instances and guarantee the future of the mine.

Munali mine in Mazabuka is Zambia's only nickel producer but has been rocked by several problems which have seen it close before. The problems were heightened by the discovery of underground sinkholes which threatened the safety and future of the mine.

This has forced the forced the firm to downwardly revise the year end production target twice from the initial 90,000 tonnes to 55,500 tonnes and later by about 21% to 44,000 tonnes for 2011 in June 2011.

In September 2011, Albidon announced the suspension of trading of shares at the ASX claiming the company had over declared the production levels of nickel.

In October 2011, it announced a restructuring process like strategies aimed at improving operations, among them reorganizing and restructuring existing finance facilities to reduce debt and align payments.

Other was attracting new strategic investors to participate in raising capital and recruiting new independent directors and managers.

(Sourced from www.times.co.zm)