Infill drilling at the 7 billion tonne deposit in Botswana’s southwest indicated thermal coal having a washed calorific value more than 6000 Kcal/kg.

This matches export-rade specifications for Richards Bay port in South Africa.

“These results confirm the export quality of the coal. And our close geographical proximity to South African domestic markets and associated transport infrastructure puts us in a strong position to develop a low-cost, high value starter-mine to supply domestic and export markets,” Nimrodel managing director Allan Mulligan said.

Analysis of the samples suggest raw and washed coal in the primary seams were lower in sulphur and ash and higher in calorific value than had been previously defined.

“This is important because it better defines the mineable resource illustrating its shallow, wide, consistent, and high quality nature underpinning our main priority to evaluate the development of a starter mine and generate early cash flow for the company,” Mulligan said.

Nimrodel is considering the possible development of a 5Mtpa run-of-mine underground at the site but concedes that transport logistics remain the single greatest constraint against immediate commercial viability.

“Notwithstanding the larger volume transportation issues, our objective is to get into production as early as possible through the starter-mine and de-risk the project while also working on innovative transport solutions, generating early cash flow and establishing a strong base for the larger, direct export market options to follow” Mulligan said.