Katanga Mining's shareholders approved the merger with Nikanor at a special meeting held January 11 in Toronto, Ontario. With over 90% of shares tendered by Nikanor shareholders at the first closing date of the offer, all conditions of the offer have been satisfied and the oOffer has been declared unconditional. The merger brings together the adjacent properties in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) owned by Katanga and Nikanor to create a major single-site operation. It creates a company with the potential to become Africa's largest copper producer and the world's largest cobalt producer, with a targeted annual output approaching 400,000 t of copper and 40,000 t of cobalt by 2011.

Arthur Ditto, Chairman, President and CEO of Katanga stated: "The strong support from both sets of shareholders is extremely gratifying and demonstrates shareholders' belief in the value generated by the merger and the merits of bringing the two companies together. This is an exciting time for Katanga as we look forward to combining our assets and experience with that of Nikanor to create an industry leader in copper and cobalt."