Kibo Mining and Brazil’s Votorantim to start exploration work in Tanzania

KIBO Mining, which is listed on the JSE and London’s Alternative Investment Market, has finalised a partnership with Votim Metaís Participações — a subsidiary of Brazilian diversified metals group Votorantim — to start exploration work at its Haneti project in Tanzania, the company has said.

The project, in the Dodoma region, is believed to hold substantial undeveloped mineral resources of nickel, platinum group metals and gold.

Yesterday, Kibo announced that all conditions relating to the formation of the joint venture had been fulfilled, and that it expected exploration to begin soon.

“We are pleased that the legal and administrative formalities in respect of the joint venture have finally been concluded and we are looking forward to pursuing the promising initial exploration results achieved on the Haneti properties,” Kibo CEO Louis Coetzee said.

As part of the agreement, Votorantim would provide an initial £2.7m funding package for the work programme.

“It is the intention of the joint venture to direct the work programme to establish a compliant mineral resource, after which the venture will consider the further development of the project on the merits of the exploration results,” the company said.

Apart from Haneti, Kibo has four other exploration projects in Tanzania. These include gold projects in Morogoro and at Lake Victoria, a coal project in Rukwa, and a coal and uranium exploration project in Pinewood.

The Rukwa and Pinewood projects were close to the Mtwara corridor, an area where the Tanzanian government had committed to significant infrastructure development, the company said.

“Rukwa is substantially more advanced than Kibo’s existing exploration projects, with a significant resource of thermal coal already defined,” it said. In March, Kibo said it had received government support for Rukwa.