Kibo Mining (LON:KIBO) said the highlight of the first half, which saw progress across its portfolio in a challenging sector, was the signing of a joint development agreement with SEPCOIII for its flagship Mbeya coal to power project in Tanzania.
The Chinese group will contribute up to US$3mln towards completing a definitive feasibility study by October, after which Kibo’s holding will be transferred into 85% ownership of a special purpose vehicle to develop the project.
Financial close is expected by December, with construction to start in the second quarter of 2016 and first power by 2019.
Kibo itself completed the mining pre-feasibility study for the project in July, which underlined its robustness and showed the fundamentals surpassed those of an earlier concept study.
Other highlights of the period included the signing of joint venture agreements on the Morogoro (gold) and Pinewood (uranium) projects with Metal Tiger and results from the Haneti project, which showed the nickel sulphide prospective rocks are much more extensive than previously thought.
The loss for the six months to June 30 was £913,891 compared to a loss of £1.055mln in the same period of 2014.
Kibo shares rose 2.17% to 5.875p.