Construction of a 384m Kilombero River Bridge, which will provide Mahenge Township a direct connection to the port of the Dar es Salaam, has already begun by the Tanzanian Government.
Kibaran Resources projects executive director Grant Pierce said: "The completion of the bridge will be one of several key milestones for the development of Epanko.
"It will substantially reduce the construction time for Epanko, therefore providing a positive boost to the feasibility study through the logistical improvement in the transport of the graphite concentrate from project to port.
"Power supply from the main electricity grid will be the main long term power source for the mine, cheaper than self-generation and will eliminate the need to transport diesel for generators."
Recently, Kibaran selected GR Engineering Services to conduct the feasibility and project evaluation study for Epanko through an exclusivity arrangement.
Pierce said that there is additional scope for further operating cost reductions at the project through the rural electrification project such as extension of the electricity line from the power grid directly to the project and a new substation at Ifakara to improve power quality and reliability, minimising Kibaran’s reliance on self-generation of electricity.
