Modern Mining July 2016

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26 MODERN MININGJuly 2016
COAL
Although it was only founded
in 2011, Shumba controls a re-
source of over 2 billion tonnes
of thermal coal and has two
advanced baseload coal-fired
energy projects – Mabesekwa and Sechaba –
totalling 900 MW in its portfolio. Mabesekwa
is located 60 km south-west of Francistown
while Sechaba is 40 km north of Palapye in
the vicinity of Debswana’s Morupule mine,
the only producing coal mine in Botswana.
Phumaphi – who holds a Masters of
Engineering degree from the University of
Sheffield in the UK and who started his career
as an engineer with Debswana at its Jwaneng
mine – gave an overview of Shumba and its
two projects at the recent Botswana Resource
Sector Conference in Gaborone. Outlining the
business case for Shumba, he referred to the
“chronic power shortages” in the Southern
African region and noted that Eskom’s tariffs
had increased by 300 % over the past seven
years. He said South Africa was looking to
source 3 750 MW of power from coal-based
cross-border Independent Power Producers
(IPPs) and that Shumba was well placed to take
advantage of this opportunity.
Elaborating on Mabesekwa, he said the coal
resource was estimated at over 840 Mt at an
average depth of between 50 and 60 m, starting
at a depth of 18 m with an average thickness
of 18 m. He stated that Shumba was partnered
with an experienced power station developer
with significant generation capacity globally
Major milestone for Mabesekwa
Shumba Energy, a Botswana-based energy company dual
listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange and the Stock
Exchange of Mauritius, has reported that the Environmental
and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for its Mabesekwa
Export Independent Power Producer (MEIPP) project has
been approved by Botswana’s Ministry of Environment,
Wildlife and Tourism. The company’s MD, Mashale
Phumaphi, describes this as a “major milestone” for the
project, which envisages the development of an opencast
coal mine and an associated mine-mouth power station.
Shumba’s Mashale
Phumaphi (third from left)
on site at Sechaba.