Adastra Minerals Inc (formerly America Mineral Fields Inc), was a London-based mining company"Adastra rejects First Quantum approach"
'' Mining Journal'' (January 27, 2006)"First Quantum raises takeover bid for Adastra Minerals"
''

CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...

'' (March 20, 2006)"Smaller stock to watch"
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' (May 2, 2006) with notable operations in central Africa (

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

, and

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

), particularly in

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. ...

and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

exploration. Adastra's properties and concessions were acquired in 2006 by

First Quantum Minerals First Quantum Minerals is a Canadian-based mining and metals company whose principal activities include mineral exploration, development and mining. Its main product is copper, which accounts for 80% of revenues as of 2016. First Quantum's com ...

for $245m in cash and stock, outpacing a counter-offer by Mwana Africa plc. Founder Jean-Raymond Boulle and top UK insurer Prudential plc had owned 10% and 14% stakes in Adastra, respectively. In the mid-1990s, the company became known for developing highly prospective copper and cobalt mines in Zaire during a civil war.

History

American Mineral Fields

American Mineral Fields (AMF) was founded in 1995 to "develop diamond interests" in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

by Mike McMurrough and Jean-Raymond Boulle. American Mineral Fields was based in

Hope, Arkansas Hope is a city in Hempstead County, Arkansas, Hempstead County in southwestern Arkansas, United States. Hope is the county seat of Hempstead County and the principal city of the Hope Hope micropolitan area, Micropolitan Statistical Area, which in ...

and operated from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It was the "brainchild" of Boulle, a former executive at

De Beers The De Beers Group is a South African–British corporation that specializes in the diamond industry, including mining, exploitation, retail, inscription, grading, trading and industrial diamond manufacturing. The company is active in open-pi ...

Diamonds in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It was chaired by McMurrough, described as a personal friend of

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

. Early on, it operated as a penny-stock company listed in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

on the

and

Toronto stock exchange The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX; ) is a stock exchange located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the List of stock exchanges, 10th largest exchange in the world and the third largest in North America based on market capitalization. Based in th ...

s, but "lacked sufficient capital to develop mines on its own." In 1996, when it was listed on the

Toronto Stock Exchange The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX; ) is a stock exchange located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the List of stock exchanges, 10th largest exchange in the world and the third largest in North America based on market capitalization. Based in th ...

for the first time, The

Robertson Stephens Robertson Stephens is a wealth management firm serving high net worth individuals and family offices. The firm is registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment advisor. Robertson Stephens was founded as ...

Orphan Fund was among its largest shareholders.

Adastra Minerals

Adastra Minerals in 2004 contracted a "definitive feasibility study" on the DRC Kolwezi cobalt/copper tailings project to a joint venture of

Murray & Roberts Murray & Roberts Holdings Ltd. was a South African-based engineering and mining contractor. It was listed on the JSE Securities Exchange. The Group delivered its capabilities into three global primary market sectors the resources, industrial, e ...

and GRD Minproc."Contract awarded for Kolwezi feasibility study"
''

Mining Weekly ''Mining Weekly'' is a weekly South African trade magazine covering the Mining#Industry, mining industry across Africa. History and profile ''Mining Weekly'' was first published in 1995 by Creamer Media, an independent Published media, publish ...

'' (August 20, 2004) It was still being finalized in the middle of 2005. In 2004, Adastra Minerals rejected a buyout offer by First Quantum. In 2005, the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

subsidiary The

International Finance Corporation The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C. and a member of the World Bank Group that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private ...

was considering taking a ten percent stake in a project owned by Adastra Minerals. Adastra had formerly been known as American Mineral Fields."World Bank"
Rosie Murray West, ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' (May 9, 2005) Also in 2005, Adastra Minerals was still involved in copper and cobalt, and its "$300m Kolwezi cobalt and copper tailings deposit in Democratic Republic of Congo is attracting a high level of interest from South African financiers." At that point, Adastra's Kolwezi project had secured a 7.5% ownership stake from the International Finance Corporation, and 10% owned by Industrial Development Corporation in South Africa. In January 2006,

in Canada made a hostile bid to acquire Adastra Minerals, with the bid rejected for being too low. In late April 2006, a second bid was put forward by Mwana Africa, with that bid rejected as well. By 2006, the company was owner of the Kolwezi project as the as a "Kipushi copper and zinc mine." The Kolwezi mine at the time as the "world's largest cobalt and copper surface resource," in the form of waste material from a former mine. It was expected to "produce 5,500 tonnes per year of cobalt and 30,000 tonnes of copper." After agreeing to a revised bid, in May 2006, First Quantum Minerals acquired Adastra Minerals "in a cash-and-shares deal worth about C$275 million (£135 million)." First Quantum said it would like Adastra on the London Stock Exchange. At the time, Adastra was based in

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and developing mineral assets in Central Africa, particularly mining operations in Zambia, Mauritania and Congo. After the acquisition, First Quantum again had gained control of the Kolwezi mine, committing to invest a new $600 million in the project.

Notable personnel

* Jean-Raymond Boulle, founder; owned 10% stake at time of acquisition by First Quantum. * Former

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed For ...

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

was until 2006 named a member of the international advisory board.

References

{{reflist

External links

First Quantum Minerals
Copper mining companies of the United Kingdom Defunct companies based in London