Baobab Resources : Masterful Mining in Mozambique
Baobab Resources is pushing forward with new mining projects that will put Mozambique on the natural resources map.
Baobab Resources
Baobab has high hopes for Tete Ben James, Managing Director of Baobab Resources, talks about the development of the Tete pig iron project in Mozambique, one of the most exciting development stories in southern Africa. Writer Ian Armitage Project manager Debbie Clark What has Ben James and everyone else at Baobab Resources so excited? The iron ore resource at its flagship Tete project in Mozambique. Just how big the project could ultimately become is anybody's guess and Baobab has a plan to get it out of the ground and to market. In all, 2013 has been a pretty monumental year. Baobab is currently working on a bankable feasibility for a 37- year, 1Mtpa pig iron operation at Tete. To help get the project off the ground, it has brought in Standard Chartered to look for potential partners, and a resource upgrade has seen it investigate scaling up the operation to 2Mtpa. "The Tete Project PFS results from March showed the compelling economics of a 1Mtpa pig iron production scenario. That was followed by a resource upgrade and then we thrashed out the 2Mtpa numbers," Ben James, Managing Director, Baobab Resources, explains. "The 2Mtpa results demonstrate the ability to significantly scale up production at Tete." That the project can be scaled up is a huge boost. "Well, it means we have at least two economically attractive options for incoming strategic investors," James says. "The 1Mtpa scenario modelled a 37-year mine life and the 2Mtpa modelled a 22-year mine life. In both of those cases we actually exploited…
