JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE-listed Kibo Mining CEO Louis Coetzee says the first quarter of 2014 was a “productive” three months for the Tanzania-focused miner, adding that negotiations with potential joint development partners on the Rukwa coal-to-power project (RCPP) have progressed to an advanced stage.

“The first quarter was productive, as we continued to make good progress in negotiating a joint development agreement with suitable partners for the RCPP while managing a tight cash flow. Once a partner is identified, this will be a major value catalyst for the project,” he noted in a shareholder update on Tuesday.

He added that the prospects for the remainder of the year looked “more encouraging” as the miner moved closer to finalising a joint development agreement and project funding for the RCPP.

Meanwhile, over the period, the company also completed a revised resource estimate for the Imweru gold project, in northern Tanzania, following a successful Phase 1 drilling programme in late 2013, lifting the total estimated indicated and inferred gold resource to 550 000 oz of contained gold or 15-million tonnes at 1.14 g/t of gold.

Moreover, the company completed a comprehensive technical report on Haneti, in the Dodoma region, based on the results of the 2013 joint venture-(JV-) funded programme which had confirmed the enhanced nickel, platinum-group metals, gold and lithium potential of the project.   

Kibo also managed to raise £750 000 in the first quarter of the year under “difficult” market conditions to partly fund the next phase of drilling at Imweru and for general working purposes.

Commenting on the miner’s objectives for the remainder of the year, Coetzee said Kibo would look to increase its portfolio of existing mineral resources in Kibo on both qualitative and quantitative levels and add at least two new resource statements in either gold or coal.

The group would also attempt to leverage growth by completing a definitive feasibility study on the Rukwa coal mine, completing a prefeasibility study on the Rukwa power project and advancing at least one gold project to scoping study level.