JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Edenville Energy has completed its bulk sampling programme at the Rukwa coal-to-power project, in Tanzania, with 20 t of samples being delivered to SGS Laboratories, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
While the results from testing are expected in October, the sampling at three different openpit locations in Mkomolo and Namwele show extensive near-surface coal, indicating the potential for the rapid and low-cost development of the mining operation on a commercially viable basis.
"We are extremely encouraged after seeing the near-surface coal seams exposed when opening up the areas for bulk sampling,” Edenville CEO Rufus Short said, adding that the company was looking at opportunities for early production in conjunction with mine-mouth power generation.
The group has excavated three 25-m-long box cuts along the strike of the two coal outcrops at Mkomolo and near previous workings at Namwele, with the sampling results expected to clarify suitable wash plant design parameters to allow the coal to be optimally processed for a potential customer’s requirements.
The Rukwa coal-to-power project, which will include a 173-million-ton mine and a 100 MW power station, already holds a mining licence and environmental certificate, with the assessment of the financial viability of a Phase 1 operation under way to place the project into commercial production.
“As such, we are in advanced discussions with several parties connected with both extraction of the coal and sales of the product,” Short said, noting the site visits of several contract miners and a potential customer during August and September to advance these ambitions.