African Energy Resources Limited, the Australian  Stock Exchange-quoted entity pledged to embark on a massive  exercise aimed at determining the  full value  of its coal resource  and the possible size of  power station for Botswana operations.
In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange on Monday, it said it is committed to┬áthe “collection of a bulk sampling”┬áexercise of close to 10,000 tonnes of coal with a view of an open-pit┬ámine in mind.
The aggressive move by the company is powered by a convertible US $ 5 million loan facility that it  got from Macquarie Bank Limited over a week ago to advance coal exploration  at  Sese in the Central District.
Sese is some 50 kilometers south-west of Francistown and is estimated to be having between 1.5 to 2 billion tones of thermal coal buried underground.
The area is said to have some impressive seam with an average thickness of 14.8 meters which is also closer to the surface.
Under the disclosure African Energy Resources   said the loan priced, at 3.5 percent above the LIBOR, is expected to be fully paid by December 31 this year, adding that it has a call option of 4.8 million shares at 1.03 Australian dollars  in favour of Macquarie Bank.
They┬á further stated that the “large scale”┬á sampling test has got key areas to determine the coal washing┬á characteristics, provide samples to power stations to test suitability of coal generation and examine the ability of the existing┬á infrastructure to┬á deliver coal to┬á southern┬á African ports for export purposes.
The announcement by African Energy comes  right on the heels of another Australian company, Hodges Resources, that indicated that it has taken a 99 percent interest in strategic  coal prospects with a target of  1.4 billion  tones at Morupule South.
The Morupule South Coal Prospect is adjacent to the operational Morupule mine and Colliery, which is the only operational coal fired power plant in Botswana.
Located within the eastern central district of Botswana, the Moruple South Coal prospect joint venture has significant mineable coal seams within the area supported by work completed by the current owner and the neighbouring companies and a preliminary report undertaken by GEMECS.
Importantly, the project areas have had minimal exploration and coal quality analytical work. To Hodges knowledge, no coal washing investigations have been made.
Botswana has extensive unexploited coal resources estimated to be in the order of 212 billion tonnes, making it one of the most coal rich countries in Africa.
