KIBO Mining was in discussions with Chinese engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company, Sepco III, regarding the extension of a co-operation agreement that would see it contracted for project work on Mabesekwa.
Mabesekwa is a thermal coal property in Botswana that Kibo Mining owns following an all-share transaction with Shumba Energy. The intention is to build a coal-to-power project in Botswana similar to Kibo’s current work on Tanzania’s Mbeya Coal to Power Project (MCPP) on which Sepco III is retained.
This followed a meeting between Sepco III and Kibo Mining in which the partners discussed progress on a power purchase agreement (PPA) with TANESCO, Tanzania’s state-owned coal and power company. Kibo said it had awarded Sepco III “… a second lot of the EPC contract on the MCPP which involved the construction of the power line that will provide power from the Mbeya Power Plant in the Songwe District to the TANESCO Mbeya sub-station.
“The signing of this second lot of the EPC is the conclusion of discussions with Sepco III that occurred last week in China, during which several strategic decisions were taken with regard to the further development of the MCPP as well as our future strategic co-operation with SEPCO III,” said Louis Coetzee, CEO of Kibo Mining.
“Together with all our development partners we are working all hours to complete the PPA as soon as possible,” he said. “The PPA process is in a very sensitive phase of its development and this requires the utmost patience, consideration and discretion from all stakeholders,” Coetzee added.
