JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Lemur Resources continued to advance its three-pronged growth strategy by developing its planned flagship Imaloto coal mine, in Madagascar, exploiting its cash balance to acquire additional assets and leveraging its geoservices equipment and geological capabilities in Africa to earn stakes in other attractive opportunities in the region.

The Guernsey-registered group said in a quarterly report for the three months ending September 30 that, while no physical exploration activity was undertaken at Imaloto over the three months, the project’s mineral resource was upgraded to comply with the Joint Ore Reserves Committee 2012 Code, and now stood at 135.7-million tons, with over 90% in the measured and indicated categories.

The company had, meanwhile, started discussions with the newly created Ministry of Strategic Resources, the Ministry of Energy and State-owned electricity company Jiro Sy Rano Malagasy over the proposed Imaloto independent power producer (IPP) licence.

The IPP licence would give Lemur the right to build, own and operate a coal-fired power plant comprising three 15 MW units within 10 km of its Imaloto project.

A draft heads of terms agreement containing the basis for a power purchase agreement and implementation agreement had been submitted to these authorities for review.

Lemur also continued its engagement with engineering and environmental service providers during the quarter to advance the IPP and expected to formally engage these service providers upon receipt of the IPP licence.

ADDITIONAL ASSET ACQUISITION
Over the quarter, Lemur engaged the services of a company to provide technical consulting and services in relation to the evaluation of potential investment projects in Africa.

The profile of assets being sought were either in production and generating cash flows, or greenfield projects with significant exploration upside and favourable cost curve positioning.

“In line with [our] previously disclosed strategy, we are currently evaluating gold and coal projects in Africa for potential acquisition and due diligence remains ongoing,” it outlined in a statement.

GEOSERVICES EQUIPMENT
The company’s drilling and exploration entity Pan African Drilling relocated its geoservices equipment to a secure compound in Kapoeta, South Sudan over the three months, advancing the strategy to establish it as a standalone contract geoservices business servicing the East African region.

During the quarter, the exercise of regular maintenance of the equipment proceeded and Lemur contracted a geologist and logistics specialist to coordinate the technical and operational establishment of the company.

“The company is reviewing projects that it can tender for with respect to drilling programmes in the East African region,” outlined Lemur.

At the end of the quarter, the group had $15.04-million cash on hand and no debt.