African Eagle Resources appoints manager for its Tanzania nickel project

BY AGENCIES

LONDON- and Johannesburg-listed African Eagle Resources appointed project manager Aidan Schoonbee to lead the development of its flagship Dutwa nickel project, in Tanzania.

Schoonbee, who starts February 1, would oversee the completion of the Dutwa bankable feasibility study (BFS) and environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA), both of which are expected to be complete at the end of this year, the company said in a statement.

He would be responsible for the African Eagle project development team and manage the engineers, consultants and contractors responsible for the BFS and ESIA documents.

The appointment announcement follows an agreement signed last week between African Eagle and World Bank Group member International Finance Corporation (IFC) for a 10% equity share in the mining company through an investment of about $5-million.

The funds, which are expected to be disbursed by the IFC in January, once the company has satisfied certain standard conditions precedent under the agreement, would primarily contribute to Dutwa’s BFS.

In November, African Eagle Resources CEO Trevor Moss proposed a streamlined development programme to focus all efforts directly on the timely completion of the BFS.

Moss said it was important to ensure that the Dutwa nickel project progressed in a controlled way, which would result in an integrated and comprehensive BFS, to derive maximum benefit from prior studies, as well as ensure the overall project timeline.

The project has a current Joint Ore Reserves Committee-compliant mineral resource of 98.6-million tons, grading 0.93% nickel and 0.02% cobalt, representing a contained 948 000 t nickel equivalent resource.