🕐01.09.10 - 08:27 Uhr
Ncondezi Commences DFS Study Work Programme
See below and attached the Ncondezi Press Release detailing the
commencement of the Definitive Feasibility Study work programme.
1 September, 2010
NCONDEZI COAL COMPANY LTD
("Ncondezi" or the "Company")
NCONDEZI COMMENCES DEFINITIVE FEASIBILITY STUDY WORK PROGRAMME
Ncondezi Coal Company Limited (AIM: NCCL), a coal exploration and
development company with coal assets in the Tete Province in Mozambique,
today provides an update on the work programme to be carried out over
the following 24 months in order to complete a Definitive Feasibility
Study ("DFS") on licences 804L & 805L (the "Ncondezi Project") by mid
2012.
Since its IPO and fund raising in June 2010, the Company has commenced a
number of activities on the Ncondezi Project including:
* Airborne geophysical mapping;
* Percussion drilling;
* Geophysical logging; and
* Construction of field office on site.
The Company has also recently appointed a number of contractors required
to help support and complete the work programme and the DFS.
In addition to the commencement of the work programme, the Company has
also received a copy of a letter of acknowledgement from the Mozambican
Ministry of Mineral Resources regarding the Ncondezi Project.
Graham Mascall, CEO of Ncondezi Coal Company, commented:
"I am very pleased to announce the initiation of further exploration
and drilling work on our Ncondezi Project on schedule as part of our
strategy to complete a definitive feasibility study by June 2012.
We
have budgeted US$15 million for exploration and technical work in 2010,
most of which will be used on the Ncondezi Project.
"
"The results of the drilling programme will help us define the thermal
coal quantity and quality and confirm coking coal potential across the
Ncondezi Project licence areas."
Work commenced to date
Airborne geophysical operations began earlier in July 2010 to conduct a
programme of high resolution aeromagnetics, radiometrics and digital
terrain model data acquisition over the Ncondezi Project.
This work is
expected to provide a clearer definition of surface geology, geological
structures, and the location and orientation of dykes.
This data will be
analysed and will help in the planning of future drill hole locations.
All data has been collected and is currently being processed.
On August 15th 2010, the Company began drilling new percussion holes
with downhole geophysical logging spaced at 4km & 2km centres on a grid
across the whole Ncondezi Project licence areas.
The Company expects to
complete in excess of 50 new percussion holes by the end of September
2010.
Drilling will provide comprehensive geological data and enable
correlation of coal zones across both undrilled and previously drilled
blocks within the Ncondezi Project.
HQ core drilling is scheduled to
begin in September 2010.
Phase I construction of the camp at the Ncondezi Project is now complete
including accommodation for 10 people and basic amenities.
Phase II
construction, which will provide accommodation and necessary
infrastructure for the majority of the field team to be permanently
based on site, is now underway and is expected to be completed by the
end of October.
Access roads to the camp are already complete, and
access roads for improved drilling access are under construction.
Management appointment
Mr.
John Twidale has been appointed as Exploration Manager in charge of
all exploration activities in Mozambique.
Mr.
Twidale has over 40 years
experience in exploration and mining, and has spent more than 20 years
working for BHP Billiton SA (including its precursor Gencor) as a
geologist and operations manager for exploration projects in Africa
including work in Mozambique, Angola, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and
Botswana.
Mr.
Twidales wealth of experience in bringing projects to
development and within budget will be a valuable asset to the Company as
it looks to bring the Ncondezi Project to DFS.
Appointment of contractors
Following review of proposals from several DFS contractors, TWP Projects
(PTY) Limited has been appointed as project manager of the DFS.
Local
environmental consultants Impacto Lda and international environmental
consultants Environmental Resources Management Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd
have also been appointed to conduct the Environmental and Social Impact
Assessment ("ESIA") study on the Ncondezi Project, to be completed in
conjunction with the DFS.
An initial environmental and social economic
baseline study is already underway, and is expected to be completed in
Q4 2010.
McElroy Bryan Geological Services Pty Ltd, Australian coal consultants
who are also working with Riversdale Mining Limited, have been retained
by the Company as exploration consultants and advisors to help plan and
oversee implementation of the work programme.
Letter of acknowledgement from Mozambican Government
In addition to the commencement of the work programme, the Company has
also received a copy of a letter from the Mozambican Ministry of Mineral
Resources to the Mozambican Ports and Railways Company ("CFM") which
brings the Companys production plans and its potential impact on future
development of rail and port infrastructure in Mozambique to the
attention of CFM.
The letter is an early milestone in the Companys
ongoing strategy to develop an infrastructure solution with the
Mozambican Government and rail and port concessionaires.
Enquiries:
Ncondezi Services (UK) Limited
Graham Mascall/ Manish Kotecha +44
(0)20 7183 5402
Liberum Capital Limited
Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker +44
(0)20 3100 2000
Chris Bowman/Ellen Francis
Renaissance Capital Limited
Joint Broker
+44 (0)20 7367 8273
Jeremy Wrathall
Pelham Bell Pottinger
Charles Vivian/Klara Kaczmarek
+44 (0)20 7861 3232 / +44 (0) 7859 048 228
About Ncondezi Coal Company Ltd
Ncondezi Coal Company Ltd is an exploration and development company with
four coal exploration and prospecting licences in the Tete Province of
Mozambique.
The Company holds prospecting and exploration licences over
more than 73,160 ha in the Zambezi Basin, a geological environment
considered to be one of the last undeveloped coal basins in the world.
Exploration work is most advanced on the Ncondezi Project, which
comprises licence areas 804L & 805L, and is located approximately 40km
northeast of the provincial capital Tete and 10km from the Sena railway.
The Ncondezi Project covers an area of approximately 38,700ha and has a
JORC coal resource of 1.8 billion tonnes.
A scoping study completed in
early 2010 confirmed the economic potential for an open pittable 10
million tonne per annum export thermal coal operation with coking coal
potential.
It is the Companys objective to complete a definitive
feasibility study on the Ncondezi Project in the second half of 2012 and
move to initial production in the second half of 2014.
Further details about Ncondezi Coal Company Ltd can be found on the
companys website: www.ncondezicoal.com
About TWP Projects (PTY) Ltd
TWP Projects (Pty) Ltd is one of the foremost mining industry EPCM
service providers in southern Africa and the largest subsidiary in the
TWP Holdings group, which is wholly owned by Basil Read (Pty) Ltd.
TWP
Projects manages a project portfolio with a capital value of more US$10
billion, and provides an exceptional multi-disciplinary source of
technical expertise to meet the full spectrum of project requirements in
the mining industry.
Further details about TWP Projects (Pty) Ltd can be found on the
companys websites: www.twp.co.za and www.basilread.co.za
Environmental Resources Management Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd
Environmental Resources Management Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd ("ERM") is
one of the worlds leading environmental and natural resources
management consultancies, with more than 3,500 staff operating in 40
countries worldwide.
ERMs Southern African offices are based in Cape
Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban.
ERM Southern Africa is one of
the largest totally focused environmental consulting firms in the region
with more than 120 dedicated staff involved in environmental and social
projects throughout the continent.
Further details about ERM can be found on the companys website:
www.erm.com
About Impacto Lda
Impacto Lda is a Mozambican registered consultancy company with a wide
range of experience in performing Environmental Impact Assessments for
projects in Mozambique as well as in Africa.
Impacto comprises a core
team of environmental scientists who have worked extensively throughout
Mozambique and have a detailed knowledge of the biophysical and
socio-economic environments as well as the existing institutional and
legal framework of Mozambique.
Further details about Impacto can be found on the companys website:
www.impacto.co.mz
About McElroy Bryan Geological Services Pty Ltd
Established in 1970, McElroy Bryan Geological Services Pty Ltd ("MBGS")
is a group of professional geologists providing specialist consulting
and contracting services to the coal mining industry within Australia
and overseas for the last 40 years.
Based in Sydney Australia, MBGS has
been the leader in its field for numerous years in coal exploration
management and geological modelling.
MBGS has worked in numerous coal
basins across the world, including Australia, Mozambique, South Africa,
Colombia, Indonesia and Mongolia, and its clients include companies such
as Xstrata plc, BHP Billiton Limited and Riversdale Mining Limited.
MBGS
has experience ranging from green fields coal exploration to exploration
at large operating coal mines producing in excess of 20 Mtpa.
Further details about MBGS can be found on the companys website:
www.mbgs.com.au
Philippe Polman
Direct line: +44(0)20 7861 3921
Mobile: +44 (0)7841 672 830
Pelham Bell Pottinger
5th Floor, Holborn Gate, 330 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7QD
Tel: +44 (0)20 7861 3232 Fax: +44 (0)20 7861 3233
www.pelhambellpottinger.co.uk
.......................................
A CarbonNeutral(r) company
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