Binga coking coal project takes shape

LONDON-listed natural resource development firm behind the Lubu coking coal project in Binga District, Contango Holdings, is awaiting delivery of key mining equipment at the end of January before installation within the first quarter.

The London headquartered firm has a 70 percent interest in the Lubu Coal Project in Zimbabwe, with the remaining 30 percent held by supportive local partners.

Environmental Management Agency (EMA)

The Lubu coal project covers 19 236 hectares of the highly prospective Karroo mid-Zambezi coal basin, located in the established coal mining province of Matabeleland North.
In an update on its official Twitter handle this week, the company said the project site (Lubu) was “a hive of activity ahead of the delivery of the wash plant and surface miner at the end of January before installation and sales at the end of Q1…”.

In December, the firm received a boost after getting the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) awarded the Environmental Impact Assessment Certificate for the company’s Coal Project.
The certificate, which was issued on 9 December 2022 and received by the company on 13 December 2022, has been awarded for the statutory two-year period and is automatically renewed on an ongoing basis assuming continued operations.

“Following regular consultations with the EMA over the last few years, environmental approvals were always expected to be awarded for our planned development of thermal coal, coking coal, and coke at Lubu.
“However, it is naturally a positive that these approvals have now been formally granted.
“We will continue to ensure the highest environmental standards are met with respect to development at Lubu ahead of first coking coal production and sales next quarter,” said the company said in separate a statement.

In order to associate with the locals, the miner has now renamed the Lubu project to Muchesu Coal.
Muchesu is the local village in the broader Lubu region near Binga and Contango has recently taken delivery of new plant and machinery.
However, the company will continue to use the Lubu name in its public statements, it said.
The Lubu coal-mining project was previously owned by Consolidated Growth Holdings before Contango entered into heads of acquiring agreements in December 2017.

President Mnangagwa

The previous owners spent more than US$20 million on Lubu, which has enabled a sizeable resource in excess of 1,3 billion tonnes to be identified under NI 43-101 standard.

Coal remains the dominant energy mineral for Zimbabwe and the country boasts of vast reserves of the mineral, particularly in the north-west and southern parts of the country.
The new investment will also boost the country’s prospects of meeting mining revenue targets of US$12 billion by 2023 under the mining roadmap launched by President Mnangagwa.
The coal sector is expected to contribute US$1 billion.-chronicle.c.zw