Bushveld subsidiary secures power-purchase agreement in Madagascar

Lemur, a subsidiary of Bushveld Minerals, has secured a Power Purchase Agreement with Madagascar state-owned utility Jiro sy Rano Malagasy, as part of the Imaloto Power Project in that same country.

The Southern Africa-focused mineral project development company reported that Lemur had executed the binding agreement through its Madagascan subsidiary Imaloto Power Project SARL.

The power plant, it added, would be located at the mine-mouth of Lemur Holdings's coal deposit, which has approximately 136m tonnes of coal.

Commenting on the developments, Fortune Mojapelo, CEO of Bushveld Minerals, said: "The signing of the Power Purchase Agreement with JIRAMA achieves a critical milestone in the development of Lemur's integrated coal-to-power project. Coupled with the on-going progress on the project's bankable feasibility study, and our recent strengthening of the Lemur management team, this achievement adds significant value to the project and brings it even closer to implementation."

On the project, Olivier Jaomiary, chief executive officer of JIRAMA, noted: "Since the Imaloto project uses coal which is a locally sourced fuel source for base load power, it will help reduce JIRAMA's exposure to the volatility of imported fuels. In the long run, we believe it will help Madagascar to increase its generation capacity while providing a source of affordable electricity to end users. Overall, we expect the Project to help bring about economic development and create employment in Madagascar."