Modern Mining June 2016

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June 2016MODERN MINING7
MINING News
advanced planning stage,” he continued.
“The palm oil project, initiated by Kibali,
progressed this week when the gov-
ernment issued an arrêté granting the
project full exoneration from duties on all
capital items needed in the milling and
refining operations as well as the planta-
tion establishment. A further two arrêtés,
regulating all fiscal and land matters, are
expected shortly to complete the agree-
ment with the government regarding the
capital cost saving of US$7,4 million.
Ghana’s state-owned GridCo has
installed a 161 kV power line almost to
site at no cost to Azumah except for the
payment of statutory compensation to
the small number of farmers impacted.
A conservative saving of 15 % or US$1,4
million of the study capital cost for
the main power supply sub-station
was realised due to a change in design
approach and adopting GridCo accepted
precedents at other projects.
Consultants Knight Peisold revised the
construction rates for the tailings stor-
age facility (TSF) and water storage dam
based on tenders received for recent sim-
ilar projects in Africa. No changes were
made to the design of these structures or
the construction quantities adopted for
the study. On the same design and con-
struction quantities, life-of-mine savings
of US$4 million were achieved including
a US$1,0 million reduction in the initial
capital costs.
“This US54 million reduction in the
funding hurdle fundamentally repo-
sitions for development Azumah’s
proposed initial seven-year, 90 000 oz/a
Wa gold project,” says Azumah’s
Managing Director, Stephen Stone. “The
recent high-grade discovery at Manwe,
the acquisition of the high-grade,
69 000 oz Julie West resources, a firmer
gold price and improved investor senti-
ment towards overseas gold projects
considerably enhance the prospects of
securing project finance or a develop-
ment partner.” 
project’s investment framework.”
The company is also making a signifi-
cant investment in the development of
the country’s human capital by training
Congolese as professional managers in line
with its policy that all its operations should
be run by local nationals.
“We’re not just creating jobs, we’re cre-
ating careers, and for generations to come
Kibali will be managed by Congolese citi-
zens with world-class skills,” he said. 
AIM-listed Edenville Energy reports that
preliminary earthworks have now com-
menced at the Mkomolo deposit site
which was awarded a mining licence in late
February 2016. The deposit forms part of
its Rukwa Coal to Power Project (RCPP) in
south-west Tanzania.
Mobile earthmoving equipment arrived
on site in late April and has initially been
put to work on improving the site access.
Rebuilding of river crossings close to the
Mkomolo deposit was the first task to be
completed. Following this, the widening
and upgrading of the access road is taking
place, which links the main highway to the
deposit site and colonial pit area.
Work will continue on road building and
upgrading for several more weeks. After
the site road upgrades, the equipment will
then be put to work improving access to
three local villages in the area. This, says
the company, is part of its Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) commitment.
Earthworks start at Rukwa project site
“I am extremely pleased our team
in Tanzania have been able to mobilise
equipment so rapidly and start work on
improving access to the site,” says Rufus
Short, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Edenville. “This will allow greater
flexibility to carry out further site works
including bulk sample excavation and
geotechnical drilling for the pit, along
with preparatory site investigations for the
power plant.
“This work is the first part of the much
bigger development that will ultimately be
an integrated coal to power project supply-
ing electricity and providing employment
to the Rukwa region and south- west-
ern Tanzania. I look forward to updating
our shareholders on other aspects of the
project in the near future, including the
status of our discussions with groups who
have expressed an interest in partnering
Edenville in the project and providing
finance for its further development.” 