CIC Energy Corp said on Friday that it has revised its global mineral resource estimate for its Mmamabula Coal Field – “Mmamabula” – in Botswana.
The global mineral resource estimate for Mmamabula now totals approximately 2.63 billion tones of coal in the measured and indicated categories. This is a decrease in the region of 10 percent from the previously reported 2.93 Bt. Coal resources in the inferred category remain essentially unchanged at approximately 35 million tones.
The company stated that its revision is a result of changes to CIC Energy’s mineral rights that took effect upon the renewal of two prospecting licences covering Mmamabula South and the Western and Eastern Blocks of Mmamabula East.
These renewals are for a period of two years commencing on 1 April 2009 and ending on 31 March 2011 as previously disclosed by CIC Energy in the Company’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A) for the quarters ended 28 February 2009 and 31 May 2009.
Under the Botswana Mines and Minerals Act, such a renewal required relinquishing 50 percent of the original licence area. The law provides that the licence holder selects the area to be relinquished, and the company points out areas generally not considered to have commercially exploitable coal.
As part of the licence renewal process, the licence for Mmamabula East was split into two licences to allow for a separate licence for the area that is planned to be mined to supply the Mmamabula Energy Project.
An application for a mining licence for this area, the Central Block of Mmamabula East, was submitted in December 2008, and it is currently under review by the government. This mining licence application is on track for approval before the completion of the financing for the Mmamabula Energy Project and it is independent of the prospecting licence renewals referred to above.
In addition, the licences for Mmamabula South and the Western and Eastern Blocks of Mmamabula East were transferred from Meepong Resources to CIC Resources (Botswana) (Proprietary) Limited, a separate wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. The licence for the Central Block is the sole licence that remains in Meepong Resources, for the reasons discussed above.
“The splitting of the coal prospecting license is an important step in putting the necessary structures in place for the project financing of the Mmamabula Energy Project,” said Mr. Greg Kinross, president of CIC Energy.
“Our remaining coal resource is significant with ample coal for multiple power stations as well as for our other planned projects,” according to Kinross.
