Andre Boje
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Australian exploration company Minergy has appointed Andre Bojé as CEO.
Bojé had more than two decades of experience in the South African coal industry. An accountant by training, he cofounded coal trading company Chandler Coal in 1997 and, after a period of exponential growth, listed the company on the JSE as Wescoal, where he continued as CEO until 2015.
Minergy was developing the low-risk, high-quality 700 km2 Masama project, in Botswana’s Mmamabula coalfield. The licence held export-quality coal with low ash and low sulphur at high yields from a shallow 2.8-billion-tonne coal deposit.
Previous studies had also indicated that the coal held a calorific value of 6 000 kcal/kg to 6 400 kcal/kg.
Minergy was considering three options for the project, with the first option being the supply of 16-million tonnes a year to the regional merchant market.
The second option would entail supplying regional power utilities, while there was also an opportunity to export high-quality coal to Europe, Asia and India, where Minergy believed the expansion of the middle-class was a major driver of long-term global energy demand growth.
“I am pleased to be joining Minergy as the project offers vast potential, ranging from supplying the coal merchant market and regional power generators to potential exports to Europe, Asia and India.
“In addition, the company is poised to explore other investment opportunities in Southern Africa and I am keen to impart my knowledge to the projects and take Minergy forward,” Bojé said in a statement.
Minergy executive director Claude de Bruin added that Bojé’s expertise and knowledge of the coal market would add “tremendous value” to the company’s Southern African investment projects.