Tanzania-focused mineral exploration and development company Kibo Mining reports that Phase 1 of the Mbeya coal-to-power project (MCPP) environmental- and social-impact assessment (ESIA) has been successfully completed.

The phase was completed upon receiving notice from the Tanzanian government that the ESIA studies for both the Mbeya coal mine and Mbeya power plant have been accepted and officially registered.

Kibo Mining holds a thermal coal deposit at Mbeya, which has a significant defined resource, and is developing a 250 MW to 350 MW mouth-of-mine thermal power station, the Mbeya coal-to-power project, in Tanzania.

Kibo is undertaking a coal mining definitive feasibility study and a power prefeasibility study for the Mbeya project, with an integrated bankable feasibility study report for the MCPP to be released in the near term.

The MCPP comprises two prospecting licences and two prospecting licence applications in south-western Tanzania, just south of Lake Rukwa.

Kibo increased the total mineral resource of the project in April from 109.2-million tonnes disclosed in the 2012 resource statement to 120.8-million tonnes, comprising a measured resource of 20.9-million tonnes, an indicated resource of 88.6-million tonnes and an inferred resource of 11.3-million tonnes.

Environmental certification for the project requires that the mining and power components must be registered as separate ESIAs, while successful registration requires the submission of a comprehensive project-specific ESIA brief and official registration documentation, the company explained in a statement released in May.

Successful registration, in turn, is dependent on the applicant’s ability to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding and insight into all the project specific and general environmental issues that will and could have an environmental impact, as per the Tanzanian environmental impact assessment and audit regulations and guidelines.

Following a review of the MCPP’s submitted ESIA briefs and registration documents, the National Environmental Management Council reached a decision that the application met all the required criteria for registration and acceptance and may continue with the rest of the assessment.

Phase 2 of the ESIA has started, with most of the specialist studies required for this phase nearing completion.