LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(MARKET WIRE)--Jan 22, 2008 -- Katanga Mining Limited (Toronto:KAT.TO - News) ("Katanga") announces that, with effect from January 21, Katanga has assumed complete management and financial control of the merged company.

Extensive planning has been under way since the merger was announced in November. Integration teams from both Katanga and Nikanor have been working to ensure the operations and management of the merged company are unified successfully.

Katanga, through its Joint Ventures Kamoto Copper Company ("KCC") and DRC Copper and Cobalt Project ("DCP"), now employs more than 3,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with offices in Lubumbashi and Kolwezi. Katanga also has offices in Johannesburg and London.

DCP is taking steps to make safety and performance-related improvements to the Kolwezi Concentrator, which currently produces a copper-cobalt concentrate for sale to the market. This work will necessitate a shutdown period, expected to be less than a month. There are sufficient product stocks to continue shipments during that period. In the meantime, production continues to increase in the Kamoto complex.

At the same time, work will also be carried out to upgrade a section of road to enable industrial traffic to bypass Kolwezi, thereby improving conditions in the town.

Katanga Mining Limited operates a major mine complex in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company has the potential to become Africa's largest copper producer and the world's largest cobalt producer, with a targeted annual output approaching 400,000 tonnes of copper and 40,000 tonnes of cobalt by 2011.

Katanga is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol KAT.

     Contacts:
     Katanga Mining Limited
     Arthur H. Ditto
     President & Chief Executive Officer
     +44 (0)20 7440 5824
      
     Katanga Mining Limited
     Anu Dhir
     Vice President, Corporate Development
     +44 (0)20 7440 5822
     Website: http://www.katangamining.com