[miningmx.com] – BOTSWANA intends exporting coal using rail and port facilities in Mozambique and South Africa rather than waiting for the development of the Trans-Kalahari rail link, said Bloomberg News.
Citing Charles Siwawa, CEO of Botswana’s Chamber of Mines, the newswire said that it would be disaster to wait for the railway and for an improvement in the coal price. “Sitting back and waiting for the coal price to improve is unwise, as we believe we have hit the bottom now and the only way is up,’ said Siwawa.
“Producing now would help them work out the logistics when the Trans-Kalahari is developed as you cannot simply wake up and supply the 60 million tons per annum it will require,’ he said.
Namibia and Botswana have long planned to build a railway that would run from Botswana’s coalfields to a Namibian port, a 1,500km span that is expected to cost up to $5bn to build. As yet, funding has not been secured for the railway.
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