JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Iron-ore focused Tawana Resources has received approval from the Liberian Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy (MLME) to begin negotiation of the company’s mineral development agreement (MDA) for the Mofe Creek project.

The MDA is a legally binding agreement, outlining the technical, commercial, social and environmental commitments to be undertaken to build, operate and sustain a project in Liberia, and is a legislative document passed as a Bill in Parliament for a term of 25 years. 

Detailed meetings with representatives of the Ministry and members of the Inter-Ministerial Technical Committee, along with subsequent field visits in July, confirmed earlier commitments by the Liberian government and Tawana to progress the agreement. 

The approval to proceed with formal negotiations associated with this agreement coincided with the successful completion of the project’s scoping study in July, which Tawana had subsequently presented to the MLME.

The recent scoping study considered an early start-up, low capital cost, high profit margin project, with a nominal production rate of up to 2.5-million tons a year.

The MDA negotiation process would take between six and nine months and was being coordinated to align with the completion of the project’s prefeasibility study. 

Extensive work on the project’s final design, construction, staging and the associated transitional logistics solutions, would be negotiated during the MDA process.

The next critical step in the advancement of the agreement was the invoking of the Inter-Ministerial Concessional Committee, with support from the Inter-Ministerial Technical Committee. 

Tawana would now aim to accelerate the MDA process with the imminent selection of MDA legal representatives, who would represent the company in the negotiation processes and assist with the advancement of licences, applications and leases for future logistics solutions, including a dedicated haul road and a coastal port facility. 

A final technical report from the Inter-Ministerial Technical Committee was expected to be issued in October, which would complement the current approval to proceed with negotiations on the MDA, as granted by the Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy.

“We are delighted to receive the acknowledgement and support of the MLME for this crucial process and we are excited to advance this agreement as a matter of urgency to ensure the company receives all approvals and agreements in an efficient and timely manner.

“The support from the government of Liberia has been unwavering and complements our collective desire to build the Mofe Creek project – for the benefit of all stakeholders,” commented Tawana chairperson Wayne Richards.

He added that the opportunity to negotiate the agreement at such an early stage of the project’s development timeline was testament to the quality of the project’s assets, the technical capability of the Tawana team and the government’s commitment.

The 100%-owned Mofe Creek project was a new discovery in the heart of Liberia’s historic iron-ore district, located 20 km from the coast and 80 km from the country’s capital city and major port, Monrovia.

The project hosted high-grade friable itabirite mineralisation, which could be easily upgraded to a premium quality iron-ore product of +64- 68% iron grade, using simple, low capital intensity beneficiation.