Signs Hydro-Electric Collaboration Agreement in Liberia
Hummingbird Resources, the multi-project gold company, is pleased to announce it has signed a collaboration agreement to embark on the planning and development of a 20-30MW hydro-electric power plant in southeast Liberia, Africa, in an area ±10km km from Hummingbird’s 4.2Moz Dugbe 1 Gold Project.
The Agreement has been signed with IFC InfraVentures, the IFC Global Infrastructure Project Development Fund, and Aldwych International, a leading energy company active in the growing economies of Africa.
Highlights:
· HEP plant, if developed, would:
o significantly contribute to the domestic power supply in southeast Liberia
o provide considerable potential to reduce operating costs of Dugbe 1 through the delivery of low-cost power
· HEP Pre-feasibility study to be conducted by Knight Piésold Consulting (Vancouver) to assess the technical and economic viability of the HEP project
· The PFS will be in two phases:
o Phase 1: preliminary engineering, draft PFS report and installation of stream gauge and flow monitoring equipment
o Phase 2: one year of flow rate recording, stream gauge maintenance, hydrological analysis and final PFS report
o PFS is expected to be completed by April 2016
· The study will be funded by IFC InfraVentures for circa US$265,000
Dan Betts, CEO of Hummingbird Resources, said, “This collaboration represents an extremely exciting opportunity for Hummingbird, working together with two highly regarded partners, IFC InfraVentures and Aldwych International, to develop a sustainable source of power for Dugbe 1 and to secure the future domestic power supply for the southeast Liberian region and in particular the town of Greenville. With the HEP PFS fully funded by IFC InfraVentures, we believe, if successful, this HEP scheme will create a catalyst for growth of the region and provide a significant potential opex-saving opportunity for Dugbe 1.
“We remain dedicated to creating maximum value for shareholders and in this respect we continue to make significant progress with regards to our other gold project, Yanfolila in Mali. Having just raised US$8.9million on top of our US$75 million debt facility with Taurus, mine construction at Yanfolila is due to commence imminently with first production targeted for H1 2016.
“In addition to our secured funding, we are conducting an open offer, as announced on 20 March 2015, to allow existing eligible shareholders to participate on the same terms as the placing. The open offer remains open until 14 April, and we look forward to updating the market on this in due course.”