Proactive Investors reported that African Energy Resources expects this month to finalise the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and Phase 1 of the Definitive Feasibility Study for a 300 MW power station and captive 1.5 million tonne per annum coal mine at its Sese Coal project in Botswana.
Upon completion, it will submit a mining licence application covering enough coal for the full life of the 300 MW Sese Integrated Power Project. It also reiterated that its consortium with Saudi Arabia incorporated company ACWA Power International have been shortlisted to submit a bid for the 300 MW Greenfield Power Project tender in late March.
Separately, a draft ESIA and feasibility study to assess the underground mining, processing, marketing and transport logistics of up to 4 million tonne per annum of coal at Mmamabula West coal project are expected to be completed this month.
Once finalised, the company will submit an application for a 2 year extension of the prospecting license over Mmamabula West and determine the optimum development path for the project.
Several groups have expressed interest in partnering with African Energy to develop this project. African Energy has also extended the terms of the binding letter of intent with Karoo Exploration Corporation to sell its portfolio of Zambian uranium licences.
Sese Coal Project:
African Energy’s Sese project hosts 2.5 billion tonne of coal, enough to support multiple 300 MW projects for regional power. Notably, it has a very low strip ratio with raw coal quality suited to low cost power generation. The project’s other advantage is its proximity to existing transmission grid and planned grid extensions.
ACWA Power will be the lead developer, manager, co ordinator and chief point of contact of the Consortium while the company will act as co developer with no commitment for additional developmental funding.
Mmamabula West:
Mmamabula West contains 892 million tonne of Indicated Resource and 1,541 million tonne of Inferred Resource at an average in situ raw CV of 4,800kcal/kg. Completion of its acquisition in December 2013 had increased the company’s total in-situ resources to over 6.2 billion tonne of thermal coal in Botswana. A preferred area of approximately 25 square kilometre within the Indicated Resource contains higher quality coal and could form the basis of a stand alone underground export coalmine.
