The Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security of Botswana has granted for the first, an open cast coal mining license to trading company, Minergy Limited, the company announced.
The license comes few months later than the projected timeline of mid-2018 as announced during the company’s listing in 2017.
However, according to the Company’s chief executive, Andre Bojé, this is a substantial step forward in terms of Minergy’s intention of focusing on delivering high-quality coal to the regional market, including Botswana and South Africa.
“The award is a significant milestone in Minergy’s journey: “The license is critical for Minergy to continue as a business.
On being the first company to be granted with an open cast coal mining license, Bojé said,”This will be the first open-cast coal mining license granted by the Government of Botswana, so the process was not without its challenges for both parties.
“However, Government was so confident in our economic model that we were never in doubt that these could be overcome,” Bojé said.
Ownership
Minergy owns 100% of the Masama Coal Project in the Mmambula Coalfield, in south-west Botswana, 50km north of Gaborone.
According to the company, the open-cast mine has the potential to produce 2.4 Mtpa (metric tonnes per annum) of coal within a year after opening.
With the award of the license and works now underway, Minergy is confident that its production milestone of January 2019 will be met.
