update on kenya

I found a couple of articles today re the Mui basin in Kenya. The details are minimal, but it doesn't sound like the news we were hoping for. I still haven't found anything official and will keep looking.

(source - http://allafrica.com/stories/201109140056.html)

The mining of the 400 million tonnes of coal deposits in Kitui county is set to start soon, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka announced on Saturday.

The Mwingi North MP said that a Chinese contactor will soon set camp at the coal rich Mui Basin to commence mining. "A tender worth more than a billion US dollars has been won by a Chinese company and the mining of coal is set to commence sooner than later," said the VP who was addressing a funds raiser in aid of Kalimbui secondary school in his constituency.

The VP expressed optimism that the huge investment would help in wealth creating through the provision of jobs to locals besides speeding the pace of infrastructural development in the area. Kalonzo's announcement comes in the wake of concerns by the people of Mui that they risked being exploited and short changed and their interests would be consigned to the periphery is the Coal mining kicks off without proper legislative framework being put in place.

And this http://www.miningweekly.com/article/chinese-company-clinches-chinese-coal-deal-2011-09-15

Chinese company Fenxy Mining Industry has been awarded the contract to explore for and develop coal in Kenya's Mui basin, shrugging off competition from 16 other companies both international and local.

The Kenya government has created four coal blocks in the Mui basin, covering 490.5 km2 and has drilled 62 wells to depths ranging from 75 m to 445 m, with the thickness of the coal seams intercepted varying from 0.3 m to 13 m.

Sample analyses show the coal in the Mui basin is sub-bituminous, bituminous and lignite, with an average calorific value of 15 MJ/kg.

The other companies that also bid for the contract included Brazil's Vale, BHP Bilton, Coal India, Australia's Continental Coal, India's Tata Power and China Nation Machine & Export Corporation.

Also interested were London Coal Corporation, South Africa's Venmyn Rand, India's Adhijeet Group and RSV Enco, of South Africa. Local companies that were also in the race included Rift Valley Resources, Africa Power and Logic Lamu Infrastructure.