May 2014
MODERN MINING
37
EVENTS
relief is the planned 105 km heavy-haul coal
rail line between South Africa and Botswana,
on which construction is due to start next year
and which will reportedly have a capacity of
40 to 80 Mt/a.
In the meantime, the company that seems
closest to developing a new coal mine is ASX-
listed African Energy, whose CEO, Frazer
Tabeart, will be speaking at the conference.
African Energy has just released a pre-feasi-
bility for an underground coal mine based
on a 200 Mt portion of the A-seam within its
Mmamabula West indicated resource, which
evaluates a 4,4 Mt/a ROM operation producing
up to 3 Mt/a of 6 200 kcal/kg export quality
thermal coal over a 20-year mine life. The capi-
tal cost is estimated at a manageable US$113
million for an owner-operated mine and coal
plant. African Energy also has the advanced
Sese project 50 km south of Francistown,
which it is planning to develop as both a coal
and power project.
Other companies presenting on coal are
Shumba Resources, which is developing the
Sechaba Energy Complex, ASX-listed Hodges
Resources, which holds the Morupule South
property (hosting a 2,45 billion tonne resource),
and Minergy, also Australian, which is devel-
oping the Masama coal project. A shallow,
flat-lying 2,8 billion tonne deposit, Masama is
located in the Mmamabula coal field.
Financial services to the mining industry
will also be covered at the conference and RMB
Botswana’s WilliamMcFerren will be outlining
RMB’s experience in funding major resource
projects.
Finally, it should be mentioned that an exhi-
bition will accompany the conference. More
than 30 exhibitors have already booked their
stands. They include mining companies such
as Discovery Metals and Kimberley Diamonds,
suppliers of professional services such as
Sedgman South Africa and Tenova Bateman,
and equipment suppliers, notably Sandvik
Mining Systems Africa. Vivo Energy will be
sponsoring all the networking events.
Editor’s note: Readers should note that the
programme of the Botswana Resource Sector
Conference is subject to change. Full details
of the conference are available from the web-
site
or by e-mailing
Emma Rynn on
