Tanzanian graphite company Kibaran Resources (ASX:KNL) has...

Tanzanian graphite company Kibaran Resources (ASX:KNL) has appointed John Conidi as a non-executive director to the Kibaran board.

Conidi will play a vital role in downstream negotiations with off-take providers and commercial partners as well as bringing a wealth of public company expertise to Kibaran.

He has extensive interests in the graphite space and is a significant shareholder of Kibaran.

Conidi is a Certified Practicing Accountant and managing director of Capitol Health (ASX:CAJ) which he co-founded.

His role in strategy, management and business development has driven the sustained expansion of Capitol Health, increasing its market capitalisation from $20 million to over $500 million in the past 8 years.

John Park, Kibaran chairman, commented: “We are delighted to have John join the board of directors.

"His skills and experience complement the board’s exploration, mine development and operational experience and will significantly add to the company’s growth strategy, as Kibaran moves towards production.”

Conidi is also executive chairman of 333D Pty Ltd (formerly 3D Group); which together with Kibaran jointly owns 3D Graphtech Industries Pty Ltd.

Kibaran is well-funded and recently raised $4.1 million through an oversubscribed share placement to fund completion of the Bankable Feasibility Study for its Epanko Graphite Project in Tanzania.

The company is seeking to raise up to a further $1 million through a share purchase plan on the same terms as the placement, or $0.17 per share.

Proceeds will fund continued development of the wholly-owned Epanko through to Decision to Mine.

The BFS is expected by the end of June.


Funding interest for Epanko

Just last month Kibaran received an Expression of Interest (EOI) from a Development Finance Institution (DFI) to co-finance development of the Epanko Graphite Project in Tanzania.

The EOI increases confidence that production at Epanko will commence in 2016.

The DFI’s interest is for the provision of a senior loan of up to EUR 20 million (A$28m) with a tenure of at least 6.5 years, including a one-year grace period on principal repayment.

The DFI is a member of a large banking group rated as one of the ‘Worlds 50 Safest Banks’ and is one of the largest European development finance institutions with a strong track record in the mining sector both in Africa and globally.

The DFI has also indicated that it is interested in acting as arranger on a best effort basis for the balance of the project debt, underpinning the financing of the Epanko Project’s development.