Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Tuesday, April 11, 2023.
Samia to witness the signing of Chilalo graphite agreements
President Samia Suluhu Hassan is expected to witness the formal signing ceremony of the Framework Agreement and Shareholders Agreement for the Chilalo Graphite Project by Evolution Energy Minerals Limited, an Australian-based mineral exploration company focused on graphite.
According to a report by Proactive Investors, the Head of State will witness the formal signing of the agreements – which relate to the arrangements for the project ownership, development and management – on April 17, 2023.
The details of the agreements were worked out in March when Evolution Energy announced that its definitive feasibility study confirmed that the project is all set for high margins and low capital costs and ready to deliver sustainably sourced graphite to the rapidly growing battery market over the 17-year life of the mine.
Evolution Energy company believes that the time is right to be involved in graphite, with a booming market for batteries and a perfect geopolitical setting as countries look to source the material from outside China, the country currently dominating supply.
Meanwhile, the government has advised another Australia-based battery manufacturer EcoGraf Limited that the signing date for the Framework Agreement for the development and operation of the Epanko Graphite Project take place on April 17, 2023.
In a statement, the company’s managing director Andrew Spinks described the move as a “significant milestone.”
“The company is very pleased to partner with the government as it will be a key stakeholder in developing Epanko, a world-class graphite project forecast to make an inter-generational contribution to the Tanzanian economy,” said Spinks.
In 2020, Tanzania’s estimated graphite reserves were at 17 million tonnes, ranking 6th in the world after Turkey (90 million tonnes), China (73 million tonnes), Brazil (70 million tonnes), Madagascar (26 million tonnes), and Mozambique (25 million tonnes), according to an analysis by Tanzania Invest.
SA police in Tanzania to repatriate ‘Facebook rapist’ Thabo Bester
Top South African police officers are currently engaged with their Tanzanian counterparts to finalise all legal processes required to return former fugitive and Facebook rapist Thabo Bester and his accomplices to South Africa.
Bester, his girlfriend, Dr Nandipha Magudumana and a Mozambican national, Zakaria Alberto, were arrested in Arusha, Tanzania, on Friday last week in a joint operation between the Tanzania Police Force and the Interpol.
Bester has been on the run since he escaped from Mangaung Maximum Security Prison in South Africa’s Free State province in May 2022.
South Africa’s press quoted the country’s police national spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe as saying that the delegation led by Deputy National Commissioner responsible for Policing, Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili, had arrived in Arusha, Tanzania.
“The team is currently engaged with their Tanzanian counterparts to finalise all legal processes required towards bringing escapee Bester and his accomplices to justice in South Africa,” Mathe is quoted as saying.
Police in Njombe seizes 63 illegal Ethiopian migrants
Njombe Regional Police Commander Hamis Issah said Tuesday that police in the region are holding 63 illegal immigrants from Ethiopia who were seized there, with about 40 others said to be on the run.
Issah said about 100 Ethiopian immigrants entered Tanzania via Nairobi and Mombasa on their way to South Africa. However, the lorry they travelled in was intercepted following an accident over the Easter weekend.
He said a Scania lorry ferrying the Ethiopians stalled after it was involved in an accident with a car, and the immigrants escaped.
Njombe Regional Immigration Officer Vincent Haule confirmed the incident and said that 63 Ethiopians, who looked exhausted, were arrested from a hideout in a nearby farm and that police were still searching for about 40 other escapees.
“These Ethiopian nationals travelled from Nairobi, and Mombasa, then entered Tanzania through Tanga,” Haule said. “We have arrested 63 and are searching for 40 still on the run.”
Edenville Energy ‘cheerful’ on latest activity at its Rukwa coal project
UK-based thermal coal developer Edenville Energy said Tuesday that 594 tonnes of coal were washed at its Rukwa coal project in March 2023.
The firm said that 512.5 tonnes of coal were washed between 20 and 31 March due to improved weather conditions and the operational performance of the wash plant.
It said it had established a “substantial” stockpile of run-of-mine coal, but the subsequent washing of the coal was hampered by its moisture content due to the ongoing rainy season in Tanzania.
However, the wash plant was able to operate for at least four hours per day on six occasions during the second half of March, which enabled it to be average more than 10 tonnes per hour of throughput and achieve the company’s target production rate of 2,500 tonnes per month of washed coal.
Edenville said it expected washed coal figures to continue to be volatile during April.
Still, it added that it was encouraged by the results and evidence suggesting that Rukwa could deliver on its initial production targets after the end of the rainy season, typically in May in Tanzania.
Chief executive officer Noel Lyons said: “Performance at Rukwa during the second half of March was much improved and suggested we have the potential to achieve our initial and contracted base case production target of 2,500 tonnes per month once the rainy season concludes.”
“Confirmation that when the plant can operate, it is doing so at a rate that will achieve these production levels is very encouraging,” he added. “Additionally, in conjunction with the work at Rukwa, we remain focused on securing potential new and exciting coal opportunities.”
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