Restatement of the Mbeya Coal Resource Completed

RNS Number : 7167U

Kibo Mining Plc

11 April 2016

 

Kibo Mining Plc (Incorporated in Ireland)

(Registration Number: 451931)

(External registration number: 2011/007371/10)

Share code on the JSE Limited: KBO 

Share code on the AIM:KIBO

ISIN:  IE00B97C031

("Kibo" or "the Company")

 

 

11 April 2016

Mbeya Coal to Power Project (MCPP): Restatement of the Mbeya Coal Resource Completed

Kibo Mining plc ("Kibo" or the "Company") (AIM: KIBO; AltX: KBO), the Tanzania focussed mineral exploration and development company, is pleased to announce that the restatement of the Mbeya coal resource has now been completed. This represents another key milestone as the MCPP approaches the final stages of its development ahead of Financial Close.   

Key highlights

·    Increase in total Mineral Resource from 109.23 million tonnes (Mt) to 120.793 Mt representing a 10.42% increase over the previously disclosed Mineral Resource

·    Re-classification of total Coal Resource into Measured Resource of 20.904 Mt, Indicated Resource of 88.601 Mt and Inferred Resource of 11.28 Mt

·    Final Raw Quality attributes of coal are within specification for power plant design

·    Restatement represents a substantial increase in the quality and confidence level of the Mineral Resource which will provide a critical input to the reserve statement of the Mining Definitive Feasibility Study (MDFS) currently underway

·    91% of restated resource now qualifies for inclusion in ultimate reserve statement

Louis Coetzee, CEO of Kibo Mining, said: "The restated Mbeya coal resource is a further example of the MCPP feasibility study exceeding our expectations. The work undertaken was primarily aimed at improving confidence levels in the resource, to enable the MDFS to state an appropriate coal reserve. This objective was exceeded, with 91% of the total resource now in the Measured and Indicated categories. An unexpected 10.4% increase in the overall resource was also delivered.

The restated Mbeya coal resource also provides comfort that the mine will have sufficient reserve capacity, subject to viable MDFS results, to satisfy the energy needs for potential future expansions of the Mbeya Power Plant.

Restatement of the Mbeya coal resource is a critical activity in the MDFS work programme. With this completed, progress on the MDFS can remain on schedule.

We continue to make good progress with all three main work streams of the MCPP integrated feasibility study and overall progress remains on schedule, as per the timeline that can be viewed at: MCPP Timeline & Description."

Background

As part of the MDFS on the MCPP, Kibo undertook a geotechnical diamond drilling programme over the proposed coal mine site in mid-2015 (refer RNS dated 15^th October 2015). While primarily designed to test the ground conditions around the final pit position and determine the final slope angle for the pit design, the drill samples recovered also gave the opportunity to test the metallurgical properties of the coal and contribute to a restatement of the overall Mbeya coal resource. Initial results from the drilling pertaining to the pit design and metallurgical testing have already been announced (refer RNS of the 20^th January and 17 February 2016 respectively). The restatement of the Mbeya Mineral resource is now being announced and is based on a re-assessment of the historic drill results used to establish the existing Mineral Resource, the recently acquired sample results from the geotechnical drill programme and all other relevant data acquired during the course of the feasibility studies currently underway on the MCPP.

The work for the resource restatement was carried out by Coenie van Niekerk of Gemecs (Pty) Limited and represents a restatement of the Mbeya (formerly Rukwa) Mineral Resource by the same author. The resource is stated as a NI 43-101 compliant resource.

Table 1: Restated Mbeya Resource Statement (dated 31 March 2016)

SEAM	SEAM	NI43-101		IN SITU	%	IN SITU	RAW QUALITIES  (AIR DRIED)
	THIKNESS	CLASS		Megatons	GEOLOGICAL	Megatons	RD	ASH	IM	VM	CV	TS
				No discount	DISCOUNT	with discount	gm/cc	%	%	%	%	%
S4		Measured		0	-5%	0
S3U	2,25	Measured		3,186	-5%	3,027	1,65	43,7	5,3	23,1	14,6	1,96
S3L	2,58	Measured		3,722	-5%	3,536	1,58	36,6	6,2	25,2	16,9	1,45
S2	3,89	Measured		6,279	-5%	5,965	1,56	34,7	6,5	24,5	17,3	1,31
S1U	2,61	Measured		4,180	-5%	3,971	1,67	38,4	5,7	23,1	16,1	1,00
S1L	2,92	Measured		4,159	-5%	3,951	1,56	33,7	6,0	23,6	17,8	0,86
S0	1,39	Measured		0,477	-5%	0,453	1,59	37,7	6,2	22,5	16,0	0,42
Measured				22,004	-5%	20,904	1,60	36,91	6,02	23,92	16,68	1,26
S4	1,04	Indicated		3,49	-10%	3,14	1,74	48,6	5,2	22,1	12,8	1,36
S3U	2,09	Indicated		12,17	-10%	10,95	1,67	45,5	5,3	22,2	14,2	1,55
S3L	2,00	Indicated		13,08	-10%	11,77	1,64	41,3	5,1	24,0	15,6	1,97
S2	3,41	Indicated		25,64	-10%	23,08	1,58	36,9	5,8	24,4	16,8	1,10
S1U	2,26	Indicated		18,16	-10%	16,34	1,72	44,3	5,0	22,0	14,2	1,02
S1L	2,74	Indicated		21,29	-10%	19,16	1,67	38,1	5,2	22,6	16,4	0,66
S0	1,31	Indicated		4,61	-10%	4,15	1,66	41,4	5,5	21,4	15,2	0,69
Indicated				98,446	-10%	88,601	1,65	40,79	5,31	23,01	15,52	1,15
S4	0,82	Inferred		0,4	-15%	0,3	1,87	56,9	5,1	18,9	9,6	0,99
S3U	2,48	Inferred		2,3	-15%	2,0	1,69	46,9	5,1	21,5	13,5	1,49
S3L	1,79	Inferred		1,8	-15%	1,5	1,75	47,6	5,2	21,7	13,2	2,43
S2	3,00	Inferred		2,2	-15%	1,9	1,54	33,7	6,4	24,6	17,7	1,32
S1U	2,26	Inferred		2,8	-15%	2,4	1,74	42,3	5,8	21,9	14,2	1,01
S1L	2,93	Inferred		3,6	-15%	3,1	1,68	35,6	5,5	23,2	17,0	0,85
S0	1,13	Inferred		0,1	-15%	0,1	1,67	44,3	5,4	20,5	13,9	0,50
Inferred				13,280	-15%	11,288	1,69	40,99	5,58	22,51	15,17	1,29
GRAND TOTAL				133,729		120,793	1,65	40,17	5,45	23,11	15,68	1,18

Technical Notes:

®  Minimum Seam thickness   = 0.50m                                

®  Maximum % Raw Ash = 70%                              

®  Borehole densities:                                   

ü Measured        8bh/100ha                  

ü Indicated         4bh/100ha                  

ü Inferred           1bh/100ha                  

®  Geological Discount for unforeseen geological features                         

ü Measured Resources - 5%                              

ü Indicated resources   -10%                            

ü Inferred Resources    -15%                             

The restated total Mineral Resource has increased from 109.39 Mt disclosed in the previous resource statement from April 2012 to 120.793 Mt. This represents a 10.42 % increase in the total Resource and incorporates geological discounts on the calculated resources of each coal seam of between -5% to -15% (commensurate with each resource classification). Comparison of changes within the individual resource classifications (Measured, Indicated and Inferred) are shown below.

Table 2: Comparison between Restated Mbeya Resource and Previous Resource Statement (dated April 2012)

Resource Category	Previous Resource Mt	Restated Resource Mt (Table 1)	Increase/decrease Mt
Measured	0	20.904	+20.904
Indicated	71.34	88.601	+17.261
Inferred	38.05	11.28	-26.77
Total	109.39	120.79	11.4

Contacts

Louis Coetzee	[phone]	Kibo Mining plc	Chief Executive Officer
Andreas Lianos	[phone]	River Group	Corporate Adviser and Designated Adviser on JSE
Jon Belliss	[phone]	Beaufort Securities Limited	Broker
Oliver Morse	[phone]	RFC Ambrian Limited	Nominated Adviser on AIM
Daniel Thöle / Anna Legge	[phone]	Bell Pottinger	Investor and Media Relations

Kibo Mining - Notes to editors

Kibo Mining is listed on the AIM market in London and the AltX in Johannesburg. The Company is focused on exploration and development of mineral projects in Tanzania, and controls one of Tanzania's largest mineral right portfolios. Tanzania provides a secure and stable operating environment for the mineral resource industry and Kibo Mining therein.

Kibo Mining holds a thermal coal deposit at Mbeya, which has a significant JORC compliant defined resource (See Table 1 above), and is developing a 250-350MW mouth-of-mine thermal power station, the Mbeya Coal to Power Project ("MCPP"), with an established management team that includes Standard Bank as Financial Advisor.  Kibo is undertaking a Coal Mining Definitive Feasibility Study and a Power Definitive Feasibility Study for the Mbeya project with an integrated Bankable Feasibility Report for the MCPP to be released in the near term. On 20^th April 2015, Kibo signed a Joint Development Agreement for the completion of the Definitive Feasibility Studies and development of the MCPP with China based EPC contractor SEPCO III.

The Company also has extensive gold focused interests including Lake Victoria Goldfields and Morogoro projects. At Lake Victoria, the Company has projects with a 550,000oz JORC compliant gold Mineral Resource at Imweru Project and a 168,000oz NI 43-101 compliant gold Mineral Resource at the Lubando Project in which the Company holds a 90% attributable interest. The Company is currently undertaking a Definitive Feasibility Study on its Imweru Project.

Kibo also holds the Haneti Project on which the latest technical report confirms prospectivity for nickel, PGMs, gold and strategic metals including lithium. 

Kibo Mining further holds the Pinewood (coal & uranium) project where the company has entered into a 50/50 Exploration Joint Venture with Metal Tiger plc.

Finally, the Company also holds the Morogoro (gold) project where the company has also entered into a 50/50 Exploration Joint Venture with Metal Tiger plc.

The Company's projects are located in the established and gold prolific Lake Victoria Goldfields, the emerging goldfields of eastern Tanzania and the Mtwara Corridor in southern Tanzania where the Government has prioritised infrastructural development attracting significant recent investment in coal and uranium. The Company has a positive working relationship with the Tanzanian government at local, regional and national levels and works hard to maintain positive relationships with all communities where company interests are held.  The Company recognises the potential to enhance the quality of life and opportunity for Tanzanian citizens through careful development of its projects.

Updates on the Company's activities are regularly posted on its website www.kibomining.com  

Review by Qualified Persons

The information in this announcement that relates to the Mbeya Coal Mineral Resource is taken from a report by CD van Niekerk Director and Principal Geologist with the firm GEMECS (Pty) Ltd. Mr van Niekerk is a Professional Natural Scientist with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP), Registration No. 400066/98 and a Fellow Member of the Geological Society of South Africa. He has relevant experience and technical qualifications to be a "Qualified Person" for reporting coal resources to the NI 43-101 Standard and for the purposes of the AIM Rules for Companies.

The Company's Exploration Director, Noel O'Keeffe has reviewed the resource report and the references to them in this announcement.

Johannesburg

11 April 2016

Corporate and Designated Adviser

River Group

 

END

 

 

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