JUNIOR explorer Kibaran Resources has launched an
environmental- and social-impact assessment (ESIA) at its Epanko graphite
project, in Tanzania, following a binding offtake agreement with a major
European trader in December last year.
Kibaran said on Monday that the ESIA work was a
critical step in allowing the company to receive its environmental certificate
from the National Environmental Management Council. The certificate was a key
prerequisite to obtaining a mining licence for the Epanko project.
The environmental and social baseline studies, as
well as the receipt of the environmental certificate and the mining licence,
were the longest lead items in the approvals and permitting process, and the
entire process was expected to take between 16 and 18 months to complete.
“We are pleased to have started the environmental
permitting and mining licence process as the next stage in developing the
Epanko graphite project,” said Kibaran executive director Andrew Spinks.
He noted that this was the first of several positive
steps towards project development, following the binding offtake agreement.
In December, Kibaran finalised the terms for the
binding offtake agreement, which would see the European trader purchase some 10
000 t/y of graphite concentrate over an initial five-year period. The trader
had the option to renew the contract for a further five years, on a
market-based pricing mechanism.
The Epanko project currently has an inferred mineral
resource of some 14.9-million tonnes at 10.5% total graphitic carbon, for
1.56-million tonnes of contained graphite.
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