Lemur Resources reaches settlement for mining licence 4578

Mineral development company, Bushveld Minerals Ltd, has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Lemur Resources, has reached a settlement with Madam Rahajasoamampionona Ramiaramanana (the claimant) in respect of mining licence 4578 within its Imaloto power project coal concession in Madagascar.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement signed between Lemur Resources’s Madagascar operating entity, Coal Mining Madagascar S.A and the claimant, the claimant has irrevocably undertaken to give up all claims pertaining to the mining licence 4578. Simultaneously, both parties have agreed to immediately cease all legal processes, including applications or appeals previously lodged with the Madagascar judicial system.

This settlement puts an end the long running legal case in respect of mining licence 4578. In addition to reaffirming Lemur's ownership rights over the permit, the settlement also confirms Lemurs longstanding belief in Madgascar as an emerging investment destination in Southern Africa.

Bushveld Minerals CEO, Fortune Mojapelo, commented: "We welcome the Settlement, which confirms Lemur Resources' ownership of mining permit No. 4578, an important part of the Imaloto coal project. The settlement paves the way for Lemur to take forward the development of its Imaloto coal and power projects. Key to this development is the power purchase agreement over which the company is in negotiations with the Madagascar authorities. The agreement will allow the next stage in the development of the Imaloto project to be implemented as an integrated mine to power and transmission project, providing a captive market for its coal resource and unlocking the intrinsic value in the underlying project."

The company maintains its development approach for the project: to secure a power purchase agreement with the state owned water and utility company, JIRAMA, that would pave the way for its economic realisation. The project has a measured and indicated resource of 136 million t of coal and has completed a prefeasibility study on the viability of generating power and transmitting the power to the surrounding areas and the strategic port town of Tulear. There are also a number of emerging mining projects in the area that could benefit from an efficient base load power source provided by the project.

Edited from press release by Harleigh Hobbs

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/14062016/lemur-resources-reaches-settlement-for-mining-licence-4578-961/