Letlhakane uranium project, Botswana.
The proposed project invovles the construction of Botswana’s first uranium mine in Letlhakane. A scoping study conducted on the Letlhakane site has confirmed a resource of 280-million tons, at 158 parts per million uranium oxide (U3O8) for 44 500 t of contained concentrate. The study concluded that the shallow-lying ore will be extracted by conventional openpit mining equipment under a typical mining contract, where the contractor assumes responsibility for all earth works to the point at which run-of-mine production is delivered to the crushers.
The crushed ore will be staked on a purpose-designed leach pad. Alkaline heap leaching, solvent extraction and ion exchange will then recover the U3 O8. Site power will be sourced through a new 10-km power line connection to the Botswana state grid at the switch station in Serule. The water will be sourced from a borefield development into aquifers within the exploration tenement. This has yet to be verified.
The proposed project will cost an estimated $169-million. Duration The company plans to apply for a mining licence from the government of Botswana in early 2010. The plan is to bring the mine into production by 2011.
Contact details for project information :
A-Cap Resources (Australia), tel +61 3 9813 5888 or fax +61 3 9813 2668.
Email : info@a-cap.com.au
admin New Plants, Projects, Tenders BOTSWANA, mines, uranium
AK6 diamond project, Orapa region, Botswana.
Project description Following difficulty in securing finance for the AK6 project, Afican Diamond has developed a new mining plan for the AK6 joint venture (JV) project in Botswana, which will cut costs and bring forward production. Initially, the plan was to bring the AK6 mine on stream in 2011 at 2,7-million tons a year, scaling up to 4,2-million tons a year in 2013. Under the new plan, African Diamonds proposes a two-million-ton-a-year mine, scalable to four-million tons. In the early years, yearly output will be more than 450 000 ct. Value Initially, the mine was to be developed ina two-phase process requiring a total investment of about $260-million. Under the new plan, the project will cost less than $40-million, with operating costs of under $10t. Duration Production was scheduled to start in April 2011, but under the new plan, the construction of the mine has been brought forward to start in 2009, with production beginning by the end of 2010. Client Boteti Exploration is a JV between De Beers Prospecting Botswana, African Diamonds and Wati Ventures. De Beers holds a 71% in the company, while African Diamonds holds 28% and Wati Ventures 1%. Contact details for project information :
De Beers Botswana, Charmaine Muir-Revaka, tel +267 361 5231 or email charmaine.revaka@debeersgroup.com
admin New Plants, Tenders BOTSWANA, diamonds, mines
CIC Energy Corp is developing three projects at its Mmamabula coalfield. The most advanced project is a new integrated coal mine and coal-fired baseload power plant , the MEP.
The Mmamabula coalfield comprise two noncontiguous coal prospecting licences in the Mmamabula coalfields of south-eastern Botswana, namely the 50 840-ha Mmamabula East and the 14 000-ha Mmamabula South prospects. The global mineral resource estimate for the project totals about three-billion tons in the measured and indicated categories. An estimated 34-million tons is further reported in the inferred category. Phase 1 of the MEP is being designed for a 1 320-MW capacity comprising two units of 660-MW each and a 4,5-million-metric-sales-tons-a-year coal-mine .
This project is being planned with provisions for expansion in multiple phases CIC Energy expects that the initial MEP power station will be in commercial operation in early 2013. At full production, a total of about six-million tons of run-of-mine coal a year will be required to support the phase 1 power station. In addition to the MEP, CIC Energy is also planning two additional projects at the Mmamabula coalfield. The coal-to-hydrocarbons project is intended produce syngas from coal, which can be converted to a variety of downstream products, including fuels and petrochemicals.
The planned export coal project is actively investigating ways to export A-grade thermal coal. Value CIC Energy’s estimated equipment costs for the MEP have been revised for the resized 1 320-MW project. The estimated capital equipment and infrastructure costs related to the power station and mine are currently about $3-billion. CIC Energy has changed its disclosure practice related to project cost estimates for the MEP, given the volatility of certain components of the cost estimate (sauch as estimated interest payments, hedging costs and foreign currency translation, and the like). By disclosing capaital costs rather than total project costs, investors can more easily compare the MEP’s costs with other new power projects being undertaken globally. In addition, these cost estimates will not be dependent on global financial markets or the company?s ability to forecast these markets. The total project cost will only be established at financial close, when the loan agreements have been negotiated. Duration CIC Energy intends to tbe generating electricity by late 2012 or early 2013.
CIC Energy Corp.
Contact details for project information :
Tau Capital Corp vice-president: Investor relations Erica Belling,
tel +1 416 361 9636 or email EBelling@taucapital.com
admin New Plants, Projects BOTSWANA, energy, power plant