JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The initial results of a definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the Rukwa coal-to-power project bode well for a successful outcome, Johannesburg- and London-listed Kibo Mining said on Thursday.
The early DFS outcomes were providing valuable support for the discussions on the finalisation of the heads of terms for the power purchase, grid connection and coal sale agreements for the Tanzania-based project.
“We are pleased with the positive progress and outcomes on the Rukwa DFS to date,” Kibo Mining CEO Louis Coetzee said in a statement, noting that the early assessments justified further definitive feasibility work.
The initial focus of the DFS was to test the key benchmark assumptions that would determine the economic viability of the Rukwa coal mine as a long-term reliable coal supplier to the planned 300 MW mine-mouth Rukwa power station.
The study showed that there was “excellent” potential to mine the Rukwa deposit successfully and economically, based on current coal quantity and quality, and that there was sufficient coal in the current mineral resource to sustain the power plant for up to 40 years.
Further, early indications were that it would not be necessary to subject the coal feed to the Rukwa power plant to a washing process.