Mozambique projects

Mozambican authorities have seized more than 480 kilograms of tantalite from a Chinese company that had mined the mineral resource illegally in the centre of the country, the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy told Lusa on Monday.The operation was launched on the 12th of this month by a joint team of the Zambézia province Mineral Resources and Energy personnel and the Protection of Natural Resources and Environment Force.The tantalite seized was in 16 sealed bags weighing 30 kilograms each. The operation also netted five unsealed bags of ore. Various quantities of industrial beryl, mineral extraction equipment, computers and vehicles were also seized at the site.The operation also resulted in the confiscation of money amounting to 125,000 meticais (EUR 1,832).A Chinese citizen was detained but released on the spot after posting bail of 120,000 (EUR 1,759).The company concerned received a prospecting license on 10 February 2005, but it had expired on 10 February 2010.The case was referred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for it to pursue a case of illegally prospecting and extracting minerals.

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Triton Minerals has signed a letter of intent with MCC International, the overseas platform of Metallurgical Corporation of China, for an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract at Triton’s Ancuabe graphite project in Mozambique.MCC, a diversified developer and one of the largest equipment manufacturers in China, is a state-owned enterprise that merged in 2015 with China Minmetals, currently invested in a joint venture (JV) with Rio Tinto.The letter of intent allows the parties to accelerate the execution of a formal, fixed-price works contract in the third quarter of 2018.Triton published a definitive feasibility study (DFS) for Ancuabe in December 2017, with pre-production capital expenditure (capex) of $US99 million ($134 million) and pre-tax unleveraged net present value of $US298 million ($403.7 million).

Triton managing director Peter Canterbury said that the EPC contract was a critical step for development at the Ancuabe project, which received approval last month and estimates an annual graphite production of 60,000 tonnes a year (t/y).“We are pleased to enter this partnership with MCC, who throughout the evaluation process, demonstrated a detailed understanding of the Ancuabe graphite project, in-depth knowledge of Mozambique and a commercial awareness of project financing requirements,” he said.“The Triton development team are looking forward to finalising the contractual discussion in the coming weeks and working closely with MCC to deliver the Ancuabe project safely, on time and on budget.“We continue to meet our development milestones and deliver on our strategy to become the next ASX producer of high-purity, large flake graphite in East Africa.”

Aim-listed Kibo Mining has received commitments from an Ireland-based Investment Fund to raise £500 000 through a placing of just over 9.5-million ordinary shares in Kibo of par value at €0.015 at a placing price of 5.25p a share.The funds from the placing will go towards general working capital, but will also expedite ongoing advanced feasibility studies at the Mabesekwa Independent Coal to Power Project (MCIPP), in Botswana, and at the Benga Independent Power Project (BIPP), in Mozambique, following faster-than-expected progress on both projects over the past two months, the company said on Monday.“We are very pleased to see institutional investor interest in Kibo increasing steadily since Kibo announced its energy strategy and after completing the recent MCIPP and BIPP acquisitions.“The latest placing at the significant premium of 25% sends a very strong message on what investors believe the value proposition is that Kibo has to offer,” CEO Louis Coetzee commented.Further, following the company’s annual general meeting held on Monday, Kibo announced that shareholders have approved a change of name to Kibo Energy, which the company believes completes its transformation from a resources company to a fully-fledged energy company, positioning itself as a strategic and leading energy provider in sub-Saharan Africa