The company has secured a ZAR5,4 billion investment commitment from GEM Global Yield LLC SCS (“GEM”), a private alternative investment group with offices in Paris, New York, and Nassau (Bahamas). The mining company will also list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in January 2023, and as a result of the project 1000 emaSwati will be employed.
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Lurco Coal eSwatini (‘’Lurco’’) hereby announces its commitment to making a resounding success of its planned coal mine in eSwatini.
Lurco obtained a prospecting license in October 2021 from His Majesty the King and Ingwenyama for coal at Mpaka, an area in western Lubombo District, on the recommendation of the country’s Mineral Management Board.
The area prospected was previously owned by BHP Billiton and ceased operations over 30 years ago. Co-founder of Magni Investment Holdings (MIH), which owns Lurco, Mr. Ellington Nxumalo said the company’s research and feasibility study indicated that the area is economically mineable, and the mine could be resuscitated successfully.
“Our research analysis and investigations which to date have cost us the sum of E4 967 000.00 (Four Million Nine Hundred and Sixty-Seven Emalangeni) have led us to succinctly conclude that indeed the mine is economically mineable. A drilling programme is currently ongoing to enhance the confidence of the historical data and to establish mine access. The drilling team is working tirelessly to meet the expiration of the prospecting right on 03 October 2022.
MiH has secured a ZAR5,4 billion investment commitment from GEM Global Yield LLC SCS (“GEM”), a private alternative investment group with offices in Paris, New York, and Nassau (Bahamas). Under the agreement, GEM will provide MiH with a Share Subscription Facility of up to ZAR5,4 billion for a 36-month period following a public listing of MiH’s common stock. MiH will control the timing and the maximum number of drawdowns under this facility and has no minimum drawdown obligation.
The GEM facility will be utilized to start and operate the Mpaka mine as soon as the mining right is granted. Lurco has already submitted a mining license application to the Mineral Management Board and is confident and excited that the mining will be granted in due course, Nxumalo said.
Lurco does have the technical ability to start and operate the mine and is projected to create a minimum of 1 000 direct and indirect jobs for the people of eSwatini who will undergo extensive training, as part of the local empowerment and job creation initiative.
The company has also been able to compile a Competent Persons Report (CPR), which conclusively confirmed the economic viability of the mine and has used such to back its case for its listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The report will be published on the company’s website upon its listing on the JSE which is anticipated to take place no later than the 30th of January 2023.