18th Jan 2016 08:45
LONDON (Alliance News) - DRA Global's South African company DRA Projects SA has been awarded the optimisation study and FEED package for London-listed Coal of Africa Ltd's Makhado coal project in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, the companies said in a statement on Monday.
It is planned that both hard coking coal and thermal coal will be produced from the Makhado project for export and domestic consumption. Initially, the operation will be an opencast mine, with potential for expansion to an underground operation.
The award of the optimisation study and the front end engineering and design package follows DRA's earlier role on the Makhado project for Coal of Africa in the preparation of the definitive feasibility study of the coal processing and handling facilities, completed in early 2013.
The latest move expands the engineer and project delivery group's earlier role at Makhado to include the infrastructure components of the project, as well as the integration of the work of a number of specialist consultants.
"A key requirement of the Optimisation Study and FEED phase will be the identification of appropriate cost reduction opportunities to help optimise the economics of the project in the current challenging market. DRA and its key staff have had many years' experience in the design and delivery of 'fit-for-purpose' yet high-performance projects in coal and other commodities," DRA Chief Executive Paul Thomson said.
Coal of Africa is currently planning for work on the Makhado site to begin during the second semester of 2016, followed by a 26-month build programme with first coal produced during 2019.
"We are pleased to have DRA on board during the next phase of developing the Makhado project. This is an exciting yet crucial phase of the project development and being associated with DRA during this period will ensure a successful start to the construction of the Makhado project," Coal of Africa Chief Executive David Brown said.
Shares in Coal of Africa were down 8.4% at 2.18 pence on Monday morning.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Coal of Africa