Aim-listed Edenville Energy has recorded progress at the Rukwa coal project in south-west Tanzania, following the receipt of gross proceeds from a £700 000 capital raise announced in January.

The company has reinstated an on-site operational adviser with extensive coal experience and historic involvement in the project.

Moreover, Edenville completed a detailed review and assessment of the wash plant and implemented minor plant modifications.

The wash plant is now operating again and continuous production is targeted for early March.

The company has also ordered critical spares, including new belts, which are expected to reduce any future downtime.

Also, a stockpile of about 6 000 t of unwashed run-of-mine (RoM) coal, which was mined from the southern pit at Rukwa, has been established adjacent to the wash plant.

“The region is experiencing one of its wettest rainy seasons in many years. As such, the directors believe all economic coal has now been recovered from the southern pit, and equipment will shortly be relocated to the northern pit and mining and hauling activities will be undertaken during periods of dryer weather,” the company said on Thursday.

Based on the company’s  previous experiences, it expects the rainy season to end in late April.

“We are encouraged by the progress we have made since the receipt of funds, focusing firstly on re-establishing the workforce and, secondly, making essential modifications to the wash plant, including the delivery of a critical spares inventory and establishing the interim RoM coal stockpile,” commented CEO Alistair Muir.

He said the company planned to re-establish continuous production at Rukwa, as weather conditions allow.

POTENTIAL STRATEGIC PARTNER

Edenville also indicated that discussions with a potential strategic partner for the project were progressing and said a nonbinding heads of terms had been agreed with the strategic partner covering a potential asset-level loan, a potential coal mining agreement and a potential coal marketing agreement.

The strategic partner recently visited the project and is now conducting due diligence on Edenville’s operations.

The company said that while there was no guarantee that this period of due diligence would lead to a successful outcome, it was encouraged by the progress made to date.