Mining Weekly

Company Announcement - Sable Mining, the AIM listed exploration and development company, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (the ‘MoU’) with a view to developing a 600MW coal-fired power plant at the Company’s 19,236 hectares Lubu Coal Project in Zimbabwe, with CITIC Construction Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of CITIC Group, a Chinese based construction and services provider.

Under the terms of the MoU, Sable and CITIC will explore the opportunities of using their respective expertise to work together to develop a commercial coal-fired power station at Lubu.  It is the intention that coal mined at Lubu (which is located in the Mid Karoo Zambezi coal basin in the established Hwange mining district of north-western Zimbabwe), will supply the power station.

The MoU is supported by the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Ministry of Energy and Power Development, which is the administration in charge of power development, in line with its mandate to promote the development of energy and power generation in Zimbabwe.

Sable Mining CEO Andrew Groves said, “Considering the energy and power dynamic in southern Africa, there is a major demand for a secure and reliable power supply, which will continue to grow unless new power sources are established.  Our proposition is to develop a 600MW coal power station in conjunction with CITIC and with the support of the Zimbabwean government. This will represent a significant step forward in solving the ongoing energy deficit which is currently presenting significant obstacles to development within southern Africa.  The combination of our quality coal together with CITIC’s access to power plant infrastructure, financing and construction expertise has the potential to create a long term power supply which, due to Lubu’s strategic location in north-west Zimbabwe, could supply both domestic and regional demand once connected to the established power grid.  Our team now look forward to exploring the commercial potential of this MoU further with the CITIC team and moving forwards with this project at speed.”