sekoko?s tebeila resigns from firestone board

- ASX- and JSE-listed Firestone Energy on Monday announced the resignation of Timothy Tebeila as deputy chairperson and non-executive director from its board.

Tebeila?s resignation stems from a potential conflict of interest, as he also serves as chairperson of Sekoko Coal, a major shareholder of Firestone.

Sekoko would now nominate a replacement for Tebeila for consideration by the Firestone board. It is expected that the replacement would help take Firestone to the implementation phase of its Waterberg coal project.

The project comprises eight farms in the Waterberg coalfield totalling some 7,8 ha, and entails the construction of an opencast coal mine on the Smitspan farm.

The definitive feasibility study had shown that the farm contains sufficient coal to produce around 120-milion tons of coal for power stations, with some of the higher-grade coal suitable for the metallurgical and the thermal export markets.

The study further showed that a standalone 1,5-million-ton-a-year mine would be economically viable within the first five years of operation.

Mining at the project's Smitspan colliery site is targeted to start by mid-2011.

Meanwhile, Firestone appointed David Perkins as a non-executive director, effective from January 17.