Published: 31 October 2013

Centar, a company founded by former JP Morgan Chase and Company merger adviser Mr Ian Hannam, has won regulatory approval to mine in Zimbabwe in a joint venture with Meikles Ltd.

Approval from the Competition and Tariff Commission was received this month, Mr Andrew Lane-Mitchell, Meikles company secretary said in a written response to questions.

The venture will be established by the end of March next year, he said.

"The two mining ventures will be concluded by the end of the group's financial year end," Mr Lane-Mitchell said. "At this stage we cannot comment any further," he said, without specifying what the company will be mining.

Centar, based in Guernsey, was founded in 2011 to mine gold in Afghanistan. Mr Hannam, left JP Morgan last year after advising on the combination of Xstrata Plc and Glencore International Plc.

Mr Hannam, JP Morgan's chairman of equity capital markets, stepped down in April 2012 to appeal a decision by the UK's Financial Services Authority to fine him 450 000 pounds (US$721,000) for market abuse.

"He e-mailed a potential customer in 2008 with details of a bid for his client Heritage Oil Plc, as well as news of an oil find," the FSA said.

Mr Hannam said in a statement at the time that he would appeal and planned to continue his financial career after the dispute was over.

Zimbabwe has the world's second-biggest reserves of platinum and chrome as well as deposits of coal, gold, iron ore and nickel.

Meikles runs hotels and supermarkets around Zimbabwe.


- Bloomberg

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