Name and Location
Rukwa coal-to-power project, Tanzania.

Client
Edenville Energy.

Project Description
The Rukwa coal project hosts measured and indicated resources of 171-million tons of coal, enough to support a 120-MW power station over the life of the project.

A feasibility study on the project has suggested that a power plant could be developed in two phases.

The feasibility study is based on coal extraction from the Mkomolo and Namwele deposits. The Muze deposit, which has a Joint Ore Resource Committee- (Jorc-) compliant mineral resource of about 11-million tonnes and a historical mineral resource (non-Jorc compliant) of about 60-million tonnes, has not been considered in the study. Inclusion of the Muze deposit could bring considerable upside to the positive findings from the feasibility study and will be considered in future expansion planning.

Phase 1 could comprise two units of 60 MW each and Phase 2 two units of up to 120 MW each.

Sufficient near-surface coal supplies, at a strip ratio of 1:1, are available to feed the 120 MW plant for at least 30 years.

The option to expand the project in Phase 2 to more than 300 MW as the power demand profile increases over time, is being reviewed.

Value
The combined capital expenditure of $175-million for the power plant and mine, which equates to about $1.45-million per megawatt) is considered competitive in terms of industry costs to develop the project.

Duration
The feasibility study estimates that the project will completed by 2018.

Latest Developments
After successfully raising £250 000 through a share placement in April, Edenville is ready to begin the next stage of exploration to better define extensions at its Rukwa coal project.

Edenville's recently announced power plant feasibility study has outlined the potential to scale-up the power station beyond 120 MW in Phase 1 as the power demand increases over time. This exploration work will delineate prime targets for the future expansion of the coal resource.

The exploration programme is founded on the results of the 2014 ground magnetic survey, conducted across Namwele, Mkomolo and Muze – the three deposit areas that comprise the Rukwa coal project.

This work programme tested the possibility of additional areas of near-surface coal within the larger Mkomolo basin and better defined the edges of the coal-bearing basins that were overlain by recent alluvial sediments and not exposed at surface.

The company has indicated that the majority of the magnetic survey data is of good quality, although a small portion of the north-eastern grid needs additional survey work to further define structures. 

According to Edenville, the processed data set reveals that the western edge of the Mkomolo basin is further west than originally mapped and that the basin might be larger than originally thought, offering the potential to contain a larger area of coal measures.

Further, the Namwele basin is “well defined”, but further lines will be placed to the west and east of the existing grid to confirm the western fault contact and throw, providing a better understanding of where additional coal measures might lie.

“At Muze, the western limit of coal measures is well defined, while further magnetic surveying to define the southern and northern portions of the Muze basin will assist in planning any future drilling programme targeting the historical 60-million ton coal resource,” says Edenville.

The planned exploration programme is a relatively low-cost exercise. The company expects to generate significant information about the potential for additional coal to the west of the existing measured and indicated coal resource of 160-million tonnes at Namwele and Mkomolo, and extensions to the Muze deposit, which currently hosts an 11-million-tonne measured and indicated coal resource.

Meanwhile, the mining licence application requires several areas to be defined and presented as part of the application process.

These areas include a mine plan, a corporate social responsibility policy, a procurement plan and an employment plan.

Edenville is expected to submit its mining licence application in the second quarter of this year.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Lahmeyer International (feasibility consultant).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Edenville Energy, email info@edenville-energy.com.
Lahmeyer International, tel +49 6101 55 0, fax +49 6101 55 2222 or email info@de.lahmeyer.com.