africa mining forum to connect projects...

Volume 3 / Issue 02 US $ 6.50 APRIL - JUNE 2020

Kefi on progress despite COVID-19 impact 6

Kenya attract new gold miners to invest US$24 million 11

Stability in Africa – a continuing concern 20

Africa Mining Forum to connect projects with

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3 www.eastafricanminingnews.com East African Mining News | April - June 2020

Contents Editorial Comment

Ray of hope for mining prospects : ...................................................... 4 Cover Story

Africa Mining Forum to connect projects with financiers : ...................................................... 5

Ethiopia

Kefi on progress despite COVID-19 impact : ...................................................... 6Chinese, Ethiopia sign deal to develop natural gas : ...................................................... 7

Kenya

COVID-19 halts artisanal mining project in Kenya : ...................................................... 10Kenya attract new gold miners to invest US$24 million : ...................................................... 11Mining company donates to Kenya’s Mombasa County : ...................................................... 12

Tanzania

Mahenge Graphite ownership discussions resume : ...................................................... 13 Uganda

Karamoja local government lobby for mining sector : ...................................................... 14COVID-19 hits gold miners : ...................................................... 14

Rwanda

Rwanda keen to diversify mineral exports : ...................................................... 16Rwanda’s smelter tin gets thumbs up : ...................................................... 16

International News

Mapping key to unlocking Africa’s mineral wealth : ...................................................... 18-19 Stability in Africa – a continuing concern : ...................................................... 20 Industry Innovation

ExScanning to make mining hands-free : ...................................................... 21New hybrid energy solutions de-carbonises : ...................................................... 22

PublisherEvans Mumba

General ManagerArnold Chinyemba

EditorAndrew Maramwidze

Associate EditorAndrew Miti

Editorial Contributor(s)Esnala Banda

Potipher TemboObert SimwanzaJeffrey Sinkamba

Sam Phiri

Graphics and ProductionsMerlin Wilson (Pty) Ltd

Advertisement SalesPrecious Chimbuchimbu

Agnes MumbaChilopa Majorie Kasoma

Doris LikondeDowell Sichitalwe

Don ChuluNkosilathi Mudiyi

Musa ChigijiJoseph Nyirenda

Michael Chiku MondolokaJoshua Chibwe

Subscription & Adminstrators Kisembo Grace

Annastarzia N Nawanzi

TANZANIAOld Bagamoyo Road, Mayfair Plaza Mini Mall,

Office Suite 105/106P.O Box 75564 Da Es Salaam, Tanzania

Tel: +255 767 658840 | 768 189602Fax: +255 798 465530

KENYAOld Airport Road, Nairobi , Kenya

Tel: +254 717 939 [email protected]

4 East African Mining News | April - June 2020 www.eastafricanminingnews.com

Editorial Note

ptimism that has been exhibited by the organisers of the annual Africa Mining Forum to lure investors into the bloc should be supported.

With little mining activities happening in the East African region compared to her peers, the annual mining jamboree slated for Ki-gali from the 16 to 18 November is an opportunity for the region to be ahead of peers.

News that the platform will have ‘‘strong focus’’ on finance and in-vestment requirements and opportunities on projects in the region is something worth celebrating.

Across the globe various mining initiatives are looking for inves-tors, since mining is a deep pockets enterprise that requires heavy investment especial during the prospecting phase and preliminary stages of mining before ramping up production.

Innovative systems are now helping the surveying teams and pros-pecting companies to pin point discoveries worthy investing in and

this should be the trump card to lure investors.

Companies that will present opportunities at this platform should have their stories well crafted with facts and number. Those with funds are scouting for the best prospect.

Numbers are important as the investors want to hear more on their return on investment (ROI) and surely we cannot present half baked stories.

The more than 1000 mining and investment professionals to gather in Kigali and 10 regional mining ministers have been invited to be part of this exciting springboard for new and existing mining ven-tures, should remember the Kigali gathering, as the most informa-tive and worthy while gathering.

Remember many other African and European countries with natural resources are looking for investors. We cannot afford to waste this opportunity, we need to strongly utilise it and make the best out of it.

Remember to share your enquiries, letters and comments on [email protected]

Enjoy the read!

Ray of hope for mining prospects

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DEMOLITION CONTRACTORS’ROCK DRILLING

Andrew Maramwidze (Editor)


Cover Story

rganisers of the annual Africa Mining Forum have hopes to connect projects on the bloc with financiers. “The East African mining sector is truly underestimated by new investors,” said Elodie Delagneau, event director of the Africa Mining Forum.

Slated for Kigali from the 16 to 18 No-vember, Delagneau says the Africa Min-ing Forum has intentions to progressively establish itself as the platform for emerg-ing mining countries looking at promising juniors projects that will propel the region mining sector.

The mining jamboree has roots in the suc-cessful Kenya Mining Forum, which ran for three consecutive years in Nairobi and then evolved into the East & Central Africa Min-ing Forum, which took place in Kigali last year, hosted by the Rwanda Mines, Petro-leum and Gas Board (RMB).

“There will be a strong focus on finance and investment requirements and opportunities in those projects, but we as organisers will produce the same quality partners, expert

Africa Mining Forum to connect projects with financiers

O speakers and professional organisation that we have become known for,” Delagneau said.

The 2019 edition of the event attracted strong regional, pan-African and global representation, from both government and private sectors; coming from the African Union, Botswana, DRC, South Sudan, Zim-babwe, South Africa and Tanzania.

“Having been active in this region for quite a few years now and following extensive con-sultations with a wide range of stakeholders in the industry, it is abundantly clear to us that juniors and mid cap companies, par-ticularly at the exploration stage, are eager to have more access to investment and fi-nance opportunities.

Furthermore, Sub Saharan Africa’s im-mense mining potential in key regions forms a particularly compelling business case to take this event to a continental scale,” said Delagneau.

“Africa Mining Forum is a premium mining investment tool providing a unique oppor-

tunity for junior miners and mid cap compa-nies seeking investment in African emerging as well as mature mining markets.

“We offer a networking platform in Africa’s investment hub for hundreds of executives and decisions makers eager to engage with key stakeholders, investors and assets managers to identify promising projects and deploy capital,” said Delagneau.

Last year’s East & Central Africa Mining Forum in Rwanda, which was opened by the Rwandan Prime Minister, Dr. Édouard Ngirente, attracted almost 800 attendees from 45 countries. Some 105 mining houses and exploration companies were represent-ed with 113 expert speakers in the strategic conference, while 28 sponsors showcased their specialist services and technology.

The renamed Africa Mining Forum is ex-pecting more than 1000 mining and invest-ment professionals to gather in Kigali and 10 regional mining ministers have been in-vited to be part of this exciting springboard for new and existing mining ventures.


Ethiopia

ite activities scheduled for October at Ethiopia’s Tulu Kapi gold project remain on track, despite the need to adjust and reschedule many tasks owing to Covid-19.

ANS Mining, the investment vehicle for a syndicate of leading Ethi-opian banking, insurance and investment organisations, has re-af-firmed its commitment to the project following the government’s injection of significant liquidity into the local financial markets during the past two weeks.

Government is also collaborating directly with ANS Mining and its shareholders to reinforce project momentum.

In addition, government has advised both Kefi and ANS Mining that it will this quarter look to arrange either direct or indirect fund-ing into TKGM from its investment institutions for the required amounts if there is any further delay in investment via ANS Mining.

Moreover, in the event this investment is provided by entities out-side of ANS Mining, there will be a proportionate adjustment to the TKGM shareholding. Kefi’s interest in TKGM will remain unaltered.

Lastly, the project partners are updating the shareholder agree-ment, to account for any specific changes in schedule and budget as a result of Covid-19, providing greater flexibility and to avoid any potential holdup in the overall project timetable.

In terms of project contractors and lenders, the two project con-tractors and the two project lenders are regularly liaising with TKGM and adjusting their joint plans to take account of the various Covid-19 protocols.

With regard to the timetable, the directors of TKGM and Kefi have resolved to, notwithstanding Covid-19, remain focused on using every reasonable effort to preserve the overall scheduled target of starting full gold production at Tulu Kapi in 2022 and remain focused on full financial close of the project funding in October.

Off-site infrastructure construction programmes are continuing for road and electricity connections.

Kefi executive chairperson Harry Anagnostaras-Adams says the unprecedented scale of the stimulus packages announced by var-ious governments globally, combined with low or negative interest rates, will provide welcome relief to society and also reinforce the probability that the gold price will continue to strengthen and thus bolster the Tulu Kapi investment case.

“Our longstanding and planned new Ethiopian partners are also working hard and remain keen for Tulu Kapi to commence devel-opment as soon as possible, as the project will not only generate substantial local employment in these difficult times, but will also generate substantial tax revenue and export income.

“As an important development, the government has advised that it will look to source funding directly into TKGM via its local financial institutions if there is any delay to the anticipated investment via ANS Mining.”

Kefi on progress despite COVID-19 impact

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Ethiopia

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ong Kong-based multi-billion dollar Chinese petroleum and natural gas developer - GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Limited has signed a deal with the Ethiopian government to develop and market gas deposits in the country.

Estimated to generate $6 billion revenue over 20 years, the product will be exported to Djibouti, through a pipeline and transformed into a liquid one.

According to the agreement, the company will construct a pipeline to make the natural gas available to a domestic and international market.

The company intends to transform up to 215 million cubic feet of natural gas to liquid daily and make available up to 1.5 million met-ric tonnes of liquid natural gas.

It is also indicated in the agreement that about 190 million cubic feet of natural gas will be available daily for a local fertilizer compa-ny, yet to be constructed, as reported by the source.

Meanwhile the Mining and Petroleum Ministry says Natural gas and

Chinese, Ethiopia sign deal to develop natural gas

H oil exploration is underway in six regions in the Ogaden area, with an estimated eight trillion cubic feet of natural gas is available in the region.

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Kenya

rtisanal mining based partnership project aimed at unlocking access to improved mercury-free mining equipment has been put on hold due to Covid-19 threat.

Environmental solutions company Eco Centric and small-scale min-ing communities’ plans to launch the project have been suspended.Eco Centric regularly works with small-scale mining communities providing training to artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) com-munity on health and safety.

“The curfew announcement caught Eco Centric and mining com-munity parties off- guard, the launch had to be unconditionally put on hold,” said Edward Ndirangu, Eco Centric Director.

COVID-19 halts artisanal mining project in Kenya

A Ndirangu however said investors with interest in pumping resourc-es into the artisanal and small-scale mining sector will hold onto their investments until things improve.

Meanwhile middlemen are said to be taking advantage of low busi-ness and demand to purchase the commodity at lower prices.

“Middlemen buyers of artisanal gold are really taking advantage. Buying prices have been slashed in a big way, and these buyers are not providing capital support like they usually do,” said Julius Opiyo, the secretary-manager of MICA an ASM community-based organization based in Migori Western Kenya.

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Kenya

uernsey-incorporated Shanta Gold is set to invest $24 million (Sh2.4 billion) in staffing and gold exploration costs in Kenya after buying sev-en mining licences covering the Western part of the country from Toronto-based Bar-rick Gold Corporation.

“What we expect (to spend) is likely to be $8 million (Sh800 million) each year for three years,” Shanta’s Chief Executive Officer, Eric Zurrin said.

“But we will get much more clarity on that number as we go through the next six months or so,” he added.

Zurrin added that less than $2 million (Sh200 million) per year will be spent on staff and the minimum investments required to keep the licences. Chamber of Mines CEO Moses Njiru Njeru has reiterated that

Kenya attract new gold miners to invest US$24 million

G the mining industry is looking forward to contributing to the Kenyan Government’s Big Four Agenda, as the mineral industry provides key raw materials for at least three of these four pillars, which include manu-facturing, universal healthcare, affordable housing, and food security.

“Kenya remains an exciting new mining destination on the continent. The nation’s upbeat tempo and progressive mindset are ready to embrace technology and innova-

tions to leapfrog the entire mining value chain towards becoming a modern mining player. For example, an extensive airborne survey of Kenya is underway to identify all the mineral opportunities,” said Njeru.

The country is the world’s third largest producer of soda ash and seventh largest producer of fluorspar. Metallic minerals pro-duced in the country include titanium, gold and iron ore with export statistics indicating a growing sector.

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ustralian company Base Titanium has donated food and non-food items to residents of Likoni sub county in Mombasa affected by the covid-19 pandemic.

The items donated include 100 bags of maize, 50 bags of beans, 75 bags of rice, 50 jerry cans of cooking oil, surgical masks and personnel protective equipment for health workers.

In addition, Base Titanium has also pledged to donate 10 water stations and packages of soap to be distributed to the communities especially at the Likoni crossing channel for hand washing.

The company’s community relations manager, Pius Kassim said the offers will go a long way in the fight against the coronavirus disease, add-ing that the units will help residents embrace the hand washing initiative which has been recom-mended in curbing the spread of the viral dis-ease.

Meanwhile Likoni legislator Mishi Mboko ap-plauded the mining firm for the donations, citing that the consignment will go a long way in com-bating the effects of coronavirus.

“Indeed this is a commendable show of solidar-ity and we want other well-wishers to come on board during this time of emergency health cri-sis.” she said.

She appealed for more food and medical do-nations from all well-wishers, stakeholders and organizations in order to halt the spread of the deadly disease and minimize its impact on the populace.

The MP also called for a strong educational and awareness campaign on the nature and mode of transmission of the coronavirus as public aware-ness was still low in some areas.

She urged the residents to adhere to the health regulations such as hand washing, social dis-tancing and staying at home as the Country fights covid-19.

Mining company donates to Kenya’s Mombasa County

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Kenya


Tanzania

uthorities in Tanzania and Black Rock Mining have started a process to formalise the structure and nature government ownership in the Mahenge Graphite Project.

“The acknowledgement and commence-ment of a process to formalise the govern-ment’s ownership in the Mahenge Graphite Project is a very significant milestone.

“Resolution of the structure and nature of our partnership with the Tanzanian govern-ment through its negotiating team is a crit-ical step in achieving financing conditions precedent,” said the company’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, John de Vries.

According to the country’s mining code and regulations, it provides for government

Mahenge Graphite ownership discussions resume

A ownership via a 16 percent free carried in-terest (FCI).

De Vries said Black Rock is well prepared to follow the process with respect to the min-ing code and legislation.

“We look forward to progressing with for-mal engagement and completion of the FCI process,” said De Vries highlighting that when the structure and nature of the FCI is resolved, the 16 percent is expected to be held in Mahenge Resources Ltd a subsidi-ary of Black Rock.

De Vries said the project would deliver ben-efits to host communities at Mahenge, as well as to the government through the FCI. “We have an alignment of mutual interests which is a key objective of the FCI.

“At this stage, we are waiting on further advice of a planned date to commence the formal negotiation process and we confirm that we are at the beginning of the formal process,” he said.

Black Rock has promised to continue to update shareholders on the progress of our negotiations, financing discussions and de-tailed engineering with a view to commenc-ing project construction.

The project has a JORC-compliant mineral resource estimate of 212 million tonnes at 7.8 percent total graphite content (TGC) in-cluding ore reserves of 70 million tonnes at 8.5 percent TGC.

These ore reserves support a 16-year mine life of up to 350,000 tonnes of graphite per annum.


Uganda

ganda’s councilor for Central and South divisions has urged government to consider helping the Karamoja sub-region to tap into the op-portunities in its thriving mining sector.

Namoe Rose Chila, the representative of the region said government should sup-port small miners to form groups and avail required mining appropriate technology or forge partnerships with large-scale modern miners, so that the activity impacts commu-nities directly.

Chila was speaking on the sidelines of a business skills training for Kotido benefi-ciary saving groups under the third phase Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (Nusaf III) Sustainable Livelihood Pilot Project (SLP).

The Karamoja sub-region has a number of

ubsistence miners are the hardest hit after COVID-19 tumble gold prices. The development comes on the backdrop of border restrictions and flight cancella-tions that have created gold gluts in local markets, depressing prices for small-scale miners.

Global gold prices have been pushed back towards sev-en-year highs by investors piling into bullion as a safe-haven asset.

Informal gold miners from South America to Africa are selling gold at almost 40 percent discounts as measures to curb the coronavirus crimp supply routes and dry up funding. Artisanal miners - subsistence workers who typically use rudimentary techniques - number around 40 million worldwide, according to a 2019 estimate by Delve, an artisanal mining database.

Those mining gold account for 20 percent of global gold sup-ply, the World Bank estimated in 2013. Exporters in Ghana are stockpiling their gold in vaults at Accra’s airport as they wait for flights to resume, said Henry Osei, chief executive of Guldrest Resources Co, which ships to Dubai, India, Turkey and Hong Kong. In Suriname, one gold buyer said he is now paying 36 percent less per gram, partly due to government currency controls.

Karamoja local government lobby for mining sector

COVID-19 hits gold miners

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lucrative minerals such as gold, limestone and marble, among others.

Charles Ocici, the Enterprise Uganda exec-utive director, also appealed to the mining companies in the sub-region to set aside re-sources to empower the local community to either go to school or improve their health and livelihoods using the resources from mining activities.

“You should also not take advantage of the innocence of the Karamojong; apart from benefiting the country, a portion of the re-sources coming out of the mining industry should be dedicated towards the opening up of the community of Karamoja,” he said.

Additionally, Ocici said that except sophisti-cated equipment, some manual aspects of mining such as breaking rocks and carry-ing stones should be given to the locals. He

added that Karamoja has vast underutilized land and other unexploited resources which if harnessed, will help lower the sub-re-gion’s poverty levels.

He said opportunities are in ranching- cat-tle, sheep and goats, mining, sheanut butter production and beekeeping, among others.

He expressed dismay that despite having a capacity to accommodate about 50 cattle, goats or sheep per 10 acres, it is currently only one animal per 10 acres.

Ocici said the Karimajong need to be sup-ported to shift from keeping animals for prestige by valuing numbers and longevity of animals they have to rearing them as a business that gives them a return on invest-ment.

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Rwanda

s part of efforts to shore up foreign exchange revenues and bridge the trade deficit, Rwanda is keen on diversifying mineral exports.

According to Francis Gatare, the Chief Ex-ecutive Officer of Rwanda Mines, Petroleum & Gas Board (RMB), the move is expected to support Rwanda’s mineral exploration efforts.

The 16 terabyte files were being stored at the Royal Museum for Central Africa and are critical to identifying areas where miner-al explorations were conducted during the colonial era.

Gatare said the digital data will also facili-

Rwanda keen to diversify mineral exports

A tate Rwanda’s search for new mineral pros-pects. “This will back exploration which government has embarked on to discover and know the status of minerals we have in Rwanda, their location and quantities,” he said.

Mining in Rwanda started in 1934 in Ruton-go, meaning the country’s colonial masters, Belgium, have kept geology and mining data for 86 years.

“We signed an agreement in 2008 for the files transfer...it has taken over a year to digitize the files. They are very useful be-cause professional mining requires to know location of mineral deposits and their quan-tities,” Gatare stated.

As part of the efforts to professionalise the sector, Gatare said that the first 120 gradu-ates from the School of Geology and Mining were equipped with skills in minerals explo-ration. Over the next five years, the country plans to train more than 500 experts in the mining sector, Gatare disclosed.

“This is the step to shift from artisanal to professional mining. But it requires ade-quate investments in mining and environ-mentally friendly techniques for profession-al mining,” he said.

Rwanda is also keen on diversifying mineral exports to shore-up foreign exchange reve-nues and bridge the trade deficit.

he Responsible Minerals Assurance Process has certified as conflict-free East Africa’s only tin smelter - LuNa Smelter.

As a result of the evaluation, LuNa Smelter is fully compliant to the requirements of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chain of Minerals as well as meets the demands of the mineral certification scheme of the In-ternational Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).

“This is testament to the fact that LuNa Smelter adopts the best due diligence practices in order to operate in a safe and responsible manner that respects the en-vironment, employees, customers and the communities in which the company oper-ates,” said Dr. Radoslaw Miskiewicz, the chairman of the supervisory board of LuNa Smelter.

“LuNa Smelter has committed itself to re-

Rwanda’s smelter tin gets thumbs up

T sponsible sourcing in its production of the highest quality tin ingots. This reflects the company philosophy of value generation with special focus on CO2 trace limitation along with the sustainable development of the region,” Dr. Miskiewicz adds.

Francis Gatare, the CEO of Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB) said the certification confirms Rwanda’s responsible mining.

“Rwanda is a conflict-free source of miner-als. We have put in place different measures including deployment of tag managers at mining concessions to seal and record min-erals produced in order to efficiently mon-itor and contain potential illegal dealing in minerals,” said Gatare.

“This achievement is in line with the gov-ernment’s 7-year programme – the National Strategy for Transformation – and contrib-utes to the responsible, sustainable and environmentally friendly development of the mining sector,’ Gatare adds.

Rwanda is re-designing the mining sector in order to transform mining resources into key drivers of the country’s growth during the National Strategy for Transformation.

The mining sector in Rwanda is going through a transition, as is the case with many African countries, moving from its traditional nature of small-scale exploitation with limited links to the rest of the economy to being a major foreign currency earner.

In achieving this, Rwanda has a vision to become a regional mineral processing hub, adding value to minerals mined in Rwanda and the region before exporting them.

In line with this, LuNa Smelter was es-tablished in 2018 by European Industrial Group, Luma Holding in partnership with Rwandan Investment Group, Ngali Hold-ings. Luna Smelter began producing high quality tin ingots after successful commis-sioning in 2019.

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International News

he key to attract mineral exploration into resource-rich African countries is having access to reli-able, publicly-available geological data.

For African governments, having geological information available to potential explo-ration companies could translate into the attraction of billions of dollars in mining in-vestment.

Junior miners, the backbone of the miner-al resources sector, covet this free-to-use geological data as it is often at the mercy of low commodity prices, with limited invest-ment appetite and exploration budget.

Most countries in Africa have, for many years, undertaken mining sector reforms that support the transparent and sustain-able management of their natural resources in order to increase development gains and reduce poverty.

In low commodity price environments, gov-ernment reforms would focus on securing investment into the mining sector and the improvement of fiscal policy in a bid to maximise the economic contribution of nat-ural resource development.

Mapping key to unlocking Africa’s mineral wealth

T There has also been a move by govern-ments to ensure proper social and environ-mental protection.

More recently, the strategy of governments has been to provide a more integrated and comprehensive approach to natural re-source management.

The World Bank has been instrumental in funding projects aimed at reforming Africa’s mineral rights management.

It has done so by providing funding for projects intended to consolidate miner-al geological data coverage across Africa, through the use of electronic mineral right cadastre systems.

Although often funded by the World Bank, the management of these mineral right ca-dastre systems remains the responsibility of a country’s mineral resources ministry and is used for the efficient administration of mineral titles throughout a country, while promoting standardisation and accessibility of this information in the public domain.

According to mineral resource manage-ment specialist Minrom director Oscar van

Antwerpen, the proper implementation and administration of electronic mineral right cadastre systems will greatly improve stakeholder communications, the attraction of investment and ensuring transparency of information and significantly reduce the possibility of corruption creeping in.

The first component of the mineral indus-try value chain is the issuing of exploration and mining licences – without which mining companies are unable to begin any sort of exploration.

“Having an efficient electronic mineral right cadastre system enables attraction of in-vestors, and the development of a country’s mining rights by allowing potential explor-ers to view the locations of possible mineral deposits, mineral distributions, mineral ten-ements and thus promoting mineral explo-ration in Africa,” he says.

Another key component in ensuring a thriv-ing mining sector is the security of land ten-ure, van Antwerpen notes.

While the mining laws within a country guarantee this tenure, it is the administra-tion of the laws and regulations, through an


efficient mineral right system aided by an up to date cadastre system, that ultimately determines their efficacy,” he notes.

Moreover, an efficient mineral right cadastre system also enhances investor confidence in the mining sector by ensuring transpar-ency around the security of land tenure.

The increased level of transparency, and subsequent security of land tenure that a mineral right cadastre system provides to the investment community, acts as a base through which the investment communi-ty and private sector can finance physical mine development.

According to van Antwerpen, about 60 percent of countries in Africa make use of land management software with an exam-ple of such as FlexiCadastre (rebranded to Landfolio) to automate the mineral title workflows, improve compliance and ex-pedite the overall mineral right application process.

These include Namibia, Ghana, Zambia, Uganda, Togo, Tanzania, South Sudan, Ma-lawi, Mauritania, Liberia, Kenya, Guinea, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Con-go, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Mozam-

bique. On this FlexiCadastre system, one is able to see the mineral occurrences within the respective country.

It also outlines which of these mineral oc-currences has a reconnaissance licence, exploration licence or mining licence avail-able for application, with a detailed outline of who owns the respective licence and in-formation on when it was applied for and when it expires, says van Antwerpen.

Meanwhile in South Africa, the South Afri-can Minerals Resources Administration Da-tabase (SAMRAD) is one of the best-stud-ied, mapped and well-documented mineral resources databases, according to van An-twerpen.

The MRPD act makes provision for the im-plementation of a “flexi cadastre system” to view mineral right tenements, and while this system is active, it is not available to the public and investment community as is the case in Namibia and other African coun-tries.

He acknowledges that since the SAMRAD system was launched in 2011 to replace the country’s onerous manual application and licencing process – which has historically

been plagued by backlogs and delays, as well as the double granting of rights – it has fallen short of providing a reliable, trans-parent electronic system for investors to review at a glance the availability of rights and ownership of rights.

Not only has this hampered the exploita-tion of South Africa’s mineral resources, but it has also been detrimental to secur-ing investment into South Africa’s already stressed mining industry, says van Antwer-pen.

Because exploration is the key to unlocking South Africa’s mineral resource future, van Antwerpen calls for greater efficiency in the issuing, awarding of prospecting and min-ing rights through SAMRAD as a means to reignite South Africa’s exploration industry.

Despite the shortcomings of SAMRAD, the government has said that it is active-ly working to improve the SAMRAD online application system to make the process of applying for mineral titles more transparent and efficient.

Source-Mining Review Africa


International News

ith over 100 junior and mid-tier member mining companies actively exploring and successfully operating in Africa’s re-source-rich mining sector, the Australia-Af-rica Minerals & Energy Group (AAMEG) believes that Africa remains ripe with op-portunity for those who know how to nav-igate its political and legislative pitfalls.

The company Chief Executive Officer, Wil-liam Witham has advises on how to ma-noeuvre the challenging African mining landscape.

“Successful are those mining companies that can anticipate, prioritise and mitigate risks and who can see through the haze of misinformation and be able to distinguish turbulence from genuine crisis,” says With-am.

The AAMEG – a body representing Austra-lian companies engaged in the development of Africa’s resource industry – understands that while Africa has always had its chal-lenges, the last few years were particularly turbulent from a legislative, health, security and geopolitical point of view.

There is consensus among AAMEG mem-bers, and the broader mining industry, that African nations need to maintain political stability and security if they are to attract investors to commit capital into their econ-omies.

Stable countries, with clear, long-standing democratic government structures that have the support of its people is important in the long-term.

The knock on effect that a stable govern-ment structure has on the mining industry is that there is an increased likelihood that the mining agreement that you enter into will last over time – as frequent changes in government may impact on a mining com-pany’s security of tenure.

As a result of this, Witham stresses the im-portance of signing stability agreements and stabilisation provisions in long-term mining agreements, which will enable min-ing companies to operate under stable fis-cal conditions despite changes to govern-ment structures.

“These agreements, which are in place for a specified duration are often used as an incentive to attract foreign investment, as it protects investors from changes in tax rates and other fiscal variables,” he says.

With 54 countries on the continent, you

Stability in Africa – a continuing concern

W cannot treat Africa as a whole as there is no one-size-fits all approach to dealing with instability in Africa. In terms of stability on the continent, Witham however does note that some regions have greater stability than others.

“In general, many of the Francophone Afri-can countries in West Africa have some of the more stable democracies in Africa and have become good investment destina-tions, while some of the Anglophone coun-tries in East and Southern Africa, such as South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, have undergone many recent changes and are not as attractive as they used to be,” says Witham.

In addition to becoming a more attractive investment destination, West Africa also holds many new mineral resource opportu-nities for AAMEG members, says Witham, noting that there has been strong interest in from Australian explorers and service companies in Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea and Senegal.

However, access to finance for exploration as well as security risks have been two of the barriers to entry in this jurisdiction, he notes.

In the long-term, while AMMEG remains bullish about what Africa has to offer from a mineral resource perspective, Witham cautions that the complex nature of doing business in the developing economies of Africa cannot be underestimated and that Africa’s mineral untapped mineral potential does not always outweigh the risk of doing business.

With many African countries growing their economies quite quickly, Africa still holds potential for AAMEG members with some of them even looking to diversify into more than one country as a means to spread their risk, says Witham.

The in-country mining, tax and investment legislation is very important in that if the country does not have a supportive fiscal regime, it will deter rather than attract in-vestment.

By way of example, Witham explains that there are about three or four countries glob-ally that have great mineral endowment, but have undergone virtually no exploration be-cause their laws do not attract direct foreign investment.

Another threat to the mining industry has been creeping resource nationalisation in host countries through the incremental rais-

ing of royalties and taxes.

Host governments are using resource na-tionalisation as a means to wrestle revenues away from mining companies, the result of which has deterred investment into some African countries.

This move by some African countries to drastically increase the percentage of local ownership, coupled with an increase in tax and royalties, has removed the incentive to invest in mineral resource projects and re-duced the number of investable projects in Africa.

“Because money goes where it is wanted, countries with more supportive fiscal re-gimes are often the beneficiaries of explora-tion and the resultant investment in mineral project development”, says Witham.

The general wave of increasing terrorist violence has been one of the major head-winds faced in Africa in recent times, says Witham. The terrorist violence taking place in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso in West Africa, has claimed the lives of over 4 000 people in 2019, according to the United Na-tions.

Burkina Faso is home to abundant natural resources. With 14 gold mines in produc-tion, as well as approximately 20 Australian companies in various stages of exploration and development – the country remains a highly attractive region for investment, Witham notes.

With a positive gold climate and considered one of West Africa’s best-known underex-plored gold regions with a fantastic popu-lation, Burkina Faso is brimming with po-tential, but several mining companies in the country have been effected by the terrorist violence and has effected investment into exploration.

“Although the AAMEG is focused on mini-mising risks for its member companies op-erating in the region, the terrorist violence has highlighted the challenge in developing legitimate and socially responsible min-ing operations in parts of Africa,” Witham points out.

Witham is calling for better communication between governments, mining companies and the investment communities so that each party can better understand one an-other’s needs.


Industry Innovation

ustralia’s CSIRO has developed ExScan, a laser scanner that can construct images of underground mines and is tailored to minimise the risk of deadly explosions. JP Ca-sey considers the institution’s history of improving safety compli-ance, and how the new technology could save lives.

Despite great strides in health and safety regulations, mining remains an inherently dangerous profession, with the enclosure of workers underground presenting a range of threats, from col-lapsed tunnels to exploding hardware.

With this in mind, many mining companies and technology manu-facturers have invested in remotely operated technology and au-tomated systems to sidestep these entrenched risks by removing workers from mines altogether.

Australia’s national science research agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), has been at the forefront of this trend, already investing in projects such as remote tracking technologies and smart drones to map under-ground mines.

Now, the organisation has announced its latest innovation, a la-ser-based scanner known as ExScan that could enable workers to map out entire mine complexes from the surface, removing the need for people or even automated drones to enter the subterra-nean tunnels.

Developed in line with safety requirements put forward by the In-ternational Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and already trialled at mining majors such as Glencore, the combination of intricate design and industry support could see the scanner make a signif-icant impact in the Australian mining industry.

CSIRO has a well-established history of using tracking technolo-gy in mines and subterranean environments; its wireless ad hoc system for positioning (WASP), first deployed in 2013, enables above-ground operators to track the relative positions of employ-ees whose equipment is fitted with tags feeding information back to the surface. The WASP system also enables employees to be placed within a three-dimensional map of a mining complex, and the ExScan technology is the logical extension of this model, as it can create these complex maps and blueprints in real time.

The scanner itself is a small, roughly cylindrical unit 25 centime-tres tall, with a clear polycarbonate dome on the top. The laser sits beneath and emits lasers through the plastic dome, which can penetrate rock and mineral deposits to ‘see’ beyond the range of conventional GPS systems, building up a three-dimensional map of a mine in real time, as the scanner moves through the subter-ranean tunnels.

The design of the scanner’s casing, however, is perhaps the proj-ect’s most impressive technological accomplishment from a safe-ty perspective, with CSIRO saying that the ‘real innovation’ is ‘not the smart laser-based scanner, but the container in which it sits.’

One of the greatest dangers for underground mine workers is that of an explosive spark, triggered by the concentration of particular metals, or the build-up of static charges on surfaces such as plas-tic, interacting with dust and particulate matter in the air.

ExScanning to make mining hands-free

A


Industry Innovation

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IMLO International Ltd is a Cameroonian based company with its Headquarter in Douala

Cameroun aimed at providing high quality products and services in a strict respect of international standard. Our company strongly adheres to

internationally accepted quality standard in every stage to ensure the premium quality as to be

confirmed by the inspection report from societe general de surveillance (SGS).

We are strongly held by believing in:

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- Respecting all individuals- Perseverance

- Being innovative- Working in an ethical and socially ways

- Protecting the environment

Our main activity is General Trade (Import / Export) and Distribution. We import, re-export and distribute many

products from Asia, Middle East, Europe, North and South America. We also export from Africa to many countries

around the world. We are specialized in food and beverage production and distribution of multi-commodi-ties. We represent the best brands nationwide and we

can supplier all markets segments. Our aims is long term business relationship.

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ECOTANK FUEL STORAGE, DISTRIBUTION AND MANAGEMENT

gainst the backdrop of volatile commodity prices, which is affect- ing many mining companies’ abili-ty to invest large amounts of capital to ‘keep the lights on’ they still need to keep their operations running smoothly by improving efficiencies now more than ever before, Ag-greko Africa Managing Director John Lewis has said.

Lewis says that mining companies can now avoid the massive capital expenditure by making use of flexible, modular power solu-tions on a rental basis, which provides more financial flexibility than outright equipment purchase and allows capacity to be quickly adapted to the changing needs of a mine’s life-cycle.

“We often find that even when mining com-panies have capital available, they would rather invest it into digging ore from the ground, which is worth more to them than running a power plant,” said Lewis.

“By taking on the cost of generating power, power producers such as ourselves deploy our capital on generating power. This busi-ness model fosters a symbiotic relationship between power producers and mining com-

New hybrid energy solutions de-carbonises

A panies in that both are able to make returns on their investments by focusing on their respective core business functions.”

Hybrid power plants, which combine cost-effective and renewable energy and battery storage with the reliability of ther-mal energy have been growing in popularity over the past few years.

The solutions have become the go-to choice for mining companies seeking safe and stable electricity, especially in remote areas, as they aim to reduce a mine’s diesel consumption, energy costs as well as car-bon footprint.

“The use of hybrid power solutions at mines is only set to increase,” says Lewis, as min-ing companies have found that hybrid en-ergy solutions provide them with the agility needed to respond to the quickly-evolving energy landscape and the rapidly changing mining industry, while still delivering on the decarbonisation agenda.

Having delivered energy solutions for over 20 years, Aggreko provides a range of tem-porary, through to longer term, modular en-ergy systems that are deployable anywhere,

no matter how remote.

Aggreko’s service offering to the African continent traditionally focused on enhanc-ing the national power generation of pow-er utilities in several countries in southern, central and west Africa.

Over the past few years, this has grown to include the supply of energy solutions di-rectly to industrial companies in need of enhancing their current power systems or looking at an alternative to grid power. These industrial companies include mining houses, oil and gas producers as well as general heavy industry.

In 2017, Aggreko acquired an energy storage company Younicos, enabling the company to evolve its strategy into hybrid energy solutions. This allowed Aggreko to introduce renewable energy and battery storage into the thermal-only power mix, explains Lewis, noting that this allowed the company to unlock efficiencies within the energy mix while also fulfilling the green agenda and next generation of environmen-tal obligations.

● GATE VALVE● BUTTERFLY

VALVES● CHECK VALVES

● AIR RELEASE VALVES● GLOBE VALVES

● STRAINER● ANSI VALVES

● JOINT FOR PIPES● CONTROL VALVES

Douala, Yaoundé, Kribi, Bafoussam, Cameroon, 00237

Email: [email protected] | [email protected]: +237 697870126 / +237 690792227 / +237 652592291

Web: www.imlointernational.com

IMLO International Ltd is a Cameroonian based company with its Headquarter in Douala

Cameroun aimed at providing high quality products and services in a strict respect of international standard. Our company strongly adheres to

internationally accepted quality standard in every stage to ensure the premium quality as to be

confirmed by the inspection report from societe general de surveillance (SGS).

We are strongly held by believing in:

- Serving the customers, above all.- Being Adventurous and Enterprising.

- Respecting all individuals- Perseverance

- Being innovative- Working in an ethical and socially ways

- Protecting the environment

Our main activity is General Trade (Import / Export) and Distribution. We import, re-export and distribute many

products from Asia, Middle East, Europe, North and South America. We also export from Africa to many countries

around the world. We are specialized in food and beverage production and distribution of multi-commodi-ties. We represent the best brands nationwide and we

can supplier all markets segments. Our aims is long term business relationship.

DIAMONG MINING MACHINE SOFT SEATED GATE VALVES CB5 LUBRICANT CHAIN

AUTOMATIC FLOAT CONTROL BALANCING VALVE FLANGED BALL CHECK VALVES

CAST STEEL CYLINDRICAL TON RATED LOAD WHEEL LOADER

TIRE MANIPULATOR AIR RELEASE WATER VALVES

BASKET STRAINERS LEAK DETECTOR

PRESSURE DISCHARGE & SUSTAIN VALVESWE PROVIDE MANY

KIND OF VALVES FROM DRINKING WATER TO TREATMENT SYSTEM,

FROM REFINERIES TO CHEMICAL PLANTS AND

OUR VALVES ARE CONCEIVED FOR SEVERAL TYPE OF PLANTS

AND DESIGNED TO MEET ANY TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

SUCH AS:

We also provide comprehensive technical

solution for assembly, cleaning,lubrication and protection in all industrial markets." We are also

involved in sales and marketing of GOLD, PRECIOUS STONE, COAL,etc.and we can supplier any kind

of mining machines. Our ECOTANK is the 3 in 1 solution for your

fuel storage, distribution and management.

ECOTANK FUEL STORAGE, DISTRIBUTION AND MANAGEMENT

OTR Tire Range - A LONG WAY TOGHETHER - 210 mm x 297 mm.indd 1 7/26/2019 3:10:38 PM

africa mining forum to connect projects...

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