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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gasification Technologies -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (966)	10/6/2007 6:57:57 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 1740

SYNFUELS Competition for Sasol? 05 October 2007 free.financialmail.co.za By Nicky Smith Sasol may have a regional competitor in synthetic fuels in the near future. CIC Energy, the Toronto-listed project development company, is conducting a feasibility study into the construction of a coal gasification plant in Botswana. The plant, if it were to be constructed, could produce about 80 000 bbl/day. CIC Energy is developing the Mmamabula Energy Project 50 km north of the SA border, in Botswana. Mmamabula will be an integrated power station and coal mine, the first phase of which is expected to deliver 2 400 MW by 2012. Pieter du Toit, CIC Energy's vice-president for coal to liquids (CTL) and a former Sasol employee, says the idea to do something more with the vast coal reserves the company owns has been in development for months. The Mmamabula coal fields are expected to yield at least 2,2bn t of coal, just over half of which will be used to feed Mmamabula, which ultimately is planned to produce at least 4 800 MW of electricity for 40 years. This will leave the company with more than 1bn t of coal. This surplus is being considered as a feedstock for a CTL plant. Du Toit says CIC Energy is in discussion with an undisclosed energy major which licenses gasification technology to study how the Mmamabula coal reacts to its licensed processes. CIC Energy has also commissioned a London-based energy research group to do a comprehensive study of what products would be best suited to the markets of Southern Africa. It is also exploring which products may best be exported. Du Toit says that anything from methanol and urea to liquid petroleum gas is being considered for export. Once the study is completed, CIC Energy will be better placed to decide what sort of plant it will build. Dov Girnun, CIC Energy's vice-president for project development, says there have been initial discussions with the Botswana government about the construction of a large CTL plant. Du Toit says the costs Sasol expects to incur with its planned Mafutha plant - between US$6bn and $8bn - are in line with the costs CIC Energy may incur. Girnun says the relationship CIC Energy has with the Botswana government is "brilliant", with company executives enjoying regular access to the country's top administrators. Given the huge and growing demand for liquid fuels in SA, CIC Energy is optimistic about the future of the project. Du Toit says that by mid-2009 the bankable feasibility study will be completed and the company could be in a position to begin construction. The engineering, procurement and construction phase would take at least four years, and the ramp-up and commissioning would take another year to 18 months. Girnun says the company is under no illusion about the complexity of a project of this scale and will look to develop the plant in partnership with an established technology and energy partner. Phase 1 of the Mmamabula Energy project is a 50:50 joint venture between CIC Energy and London-listed International Power. Japanese industrial giant Sumitomo is in the process of deciding whether to take a 20% equity stake. Girnun says CIC Energy is in the process of finalising a power purchase agreement with Eskom, which will be the single-largest buyer and distributor of the power the project will deliver. Brian Dames, the head of Eskom's new building programme, is intimately involved in these discussions. He says Mmamabula is not a done deal given that the project's prices will have to be competitive with Eskom's low tariffs. Eskom produces power at about 18c/kWh, while the cost of producing power from a new plant is about 36c/kWh. CIC Energy will need to find ways of bringing these costs down. Electricity in SA is the cheapest in the world. It's at least 74% cheaper than the next cheapest, Australia's. --- CIC Energy Corp (ELC.TO) finance.yahoo.com CIC ENERGY CORP (CIEGF.PK) finance.yahoo.com I don't have a position or opinion on CIC and I don't know anything about them beyond what's in their press releases.

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (966)	12/6/2007 7:11:42 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 1740

Sentula's $16bn coal deal may ease fuel woes December 6, 2007 busrep.co.za By Justin Brown Johannesburg - Sentula Mining had joined two partners in a coal project in Botswana that could result in expenditure of as much as $16 billion (R109 billion) by 2015 to solve South Africa's power and fuel shortages, chief executive Robin Berry said yesterday. Berry said Sentula, along with Aquila Resources and Jonah Capital, had three project areas in Botswana. Aquila has a 50 percent stake in the project, while Jonah and Sentula, formerly Scharrig Mining, are contributing development and cash to build up a stakes of 25 percent each by March 2009. Jonah Capital is owned by former AngloGold Ashanti executive Sam Jonah. Aquila Resources is an Australian iron ore and coal mining junior. It is looking to explore for iron ore in South Africa and has coal tenements in Botswana. Each of the sites could house complexes that could involve coal mining, a coal-to-liquids (CTL) plant, a coal-fired power station, as well as coal exports via Richards Bay or Walvis Bay. The three sites have a total resource of 6.7 billion tons of coal. However, the extent of the coal resource needs further exploration. By March 2009, 30 000m of drilling exploration is planned as part of a $10 million prefeasibility study at one of the sites. The most viable of the three sites will be identified by next February. "This is the first milestone in the project," said Berry. The feasibility study is expected to be completed by late 2011, with construction to start within a year on a $1 billion coal mine producing up to 20 million tons of coal a year. Berry said Sentula and its partners had based their coal project model on a combination of Sasol's complex in Secunda and Toronto-listed CIC Energy's complex in Botswana. CIC Energy is exploring a project that would involved coal mining, power generation and a CTL plant. For the project to go ahead, rail, water and transmission infrastructure would be needed. Sentula had spoken to the Botswana government "at a fairly high level" and it had been supportive. So had Chinese and Indian investors Berry declined to name. Botswana is particularly interested in diversifying the country's economy away from diamond mining. Berry said the company had spoken to Eskom about buying power that could be produced from the Botswana coal project. A power station of 3 500 megawatts to 4 000MW could be built, which would consume 500 million to 750 million tons of coal over its life span. Sentula was in talks with local and international independent power producers about their role in the power station. Part of the power station's energy could be used by the envisaged CTL plant. The CTL plant was planned at a size sufficient to produce 40 000 barrels a day, with the opportunity to expand. Berry said the advantage of a CTL plant was that apart from fuel, more than 100 chemical and other products could be produced. Sentula had a "local technical partner" involved on the CTL side, but Berry declined to name the partner as the project "was at a sensitive stage". CIC Energy, which is investigating CTL in Botswana, has hired a former Sasol employee to spearhead its ambitions. Berry said that crude oil prices at about $90 a barrel made the economics of the Botswana CTL project "very encouraging". A key constraint that the coal project faced was water, but Berry said this obstacle would be overcome through Botswana's involvement in providing the extra capacity.

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (966)	12/13/2007 6:15:28 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 1740

CIC Energy announces commencement of coal-to-hydrocarbons feasibility study newswire.ca TSX:ELC BSE:CIC ENERGY ROAD TOWN, TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands, Dec. 12 /CNW/ - CIC Energy Corp. ("CIC Energy" or the "Company") (TSX:ELC, BSE: CIC Energy) is pleased to announce the commencement of both a feasibility study and a detailed market study on a coal-to-hydrocarbons project in Botswana (the "CTH Project"), at the Company's Mmamabula Coalfield. This follows positive results from an internal scoping study, which indicated robust economics for the CTH Project, which is currently 100% owned by CIC Energy. The CTH Project is one of the ways that CIC Energy is working to maximize the value of the coal resource at Mmamabula, beyond the Mmamabula Energy Project. The current Mmamabula coal resource estimate of approximately 2.3 billion tonnes, in the measured and indicated categories, exceeds projected coal consumption for both Phase One and Phase Two power plants. In addition, ongoing exploration is expected to lead to a further increase in the coal resource. Please see the technical report referred to at the end of this news release for further information on the Company's coal resource estimate. The Company has appointed Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. ("Jacobs") to conduct a feasibility study to produce synthesis gas ("syngas") from coal which can be converted to a variety of downstream products including chemicals, gas and fuels. Completion of this feasibility study is expected in the second quarter of 2008. CIC Energy also announces the appointment of Wood Mackenzie to do an in-depth market study for the Company's CTH Project, to assess the potential demand for the different downstream products that can be produced from syngas including chemicals, gas and fuels. The first phase of this market study is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2008. "The appointment of Jacobs and Wood Mackenzie to conduct feasibility and market studies is an important step toward maximizing the full value of the large coal resource at Mmamabula," said Mr. Gregory Kinross, President of CIC Energy. Other Corporate News In other corporate news, CIC Energy is pleased to announce that the Government of Botswana has approved the Environmental Impact Statement for all planned transmission lines in Botswana related to the Mmamabula Energy Project. Approximately 50 kilometres of transmission lines will be constructed from Mmamabula to the South African border, to tie into the electrical grid belonging to Eskom Holdings Limited, South Africa's national electrical utility. Additional transmission lines will connect the Mmamabula Energy Project to Botswana's electrical grid, owned and operated by Botswana Power Corporation (BPC), which includes BPC's Morupule power station. This environmental approval complements the approvals for the Company's power station and mine announced on October 29, 2007. Furthermore, CIC Energy announces the following executive appointments. Mr. Warren Newfield, Co-Chairman of CIC Energy and founder of Tau Capital Corp., is appointed as CEO of the Company. Mr. Gregory Kinross will remain President. In addition, Mr. Craig McLeary has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer, effective February 2008. At the same time, Ms. Susan Myburgh, currently the CFO, will take on the new role of Financial Director of the Company's South African subsidiary, CIC Energy (SA) (Pty) Limited. Mr. McLeary, a Chartered Accountant, brings 17 years of accounting and finance expertise to CIC Energy, including most recently as Group Financial Manager at Sappi Limited, a global leader in the pulp and paper industry headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa (NYSE, JSE, and LSE listed). Sappi had annual sales of over US$5 billion in fiscal 2007 with manufacturing operations on four continents, sales offices in 50 countries and customers in over 100 countries worldwide. Mr. McLeary was a member of the Audit and Accounting Task Group of the King Committee on Corporate Governance (King II) in South Africa. He began his career at Deloitte & Touche, South Africa and received a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from Natal University, as well as a Bachelor of Accounting Science (Honours) from the University of South Africa. "Craig McLeary is a strong addition to CIC Energy's senior management team and we are very pleased to have him on board," said Mr. Gregory Kinross, President of CIC Energy. About CIC Energy Corp. CIC Energy is a TSX/BSE-listed company engaged in the advancement of the estimated US$9.5 billion Mmamabula Energy Project, a planned power station and integrated coal mine in Botswana. The Mmamabula Energy Project is in partnership with International Power plc (LSE listed), a leading independent electricity generating company. The Southern Africa region is projected to require significant new baseload power generation capacity over the next several years. The Mmamabula Energy Project is located in the Mmamabula Coal Field of southeastern Botswana, 120 kilometres north of the capital city of Gaborone and adjacent to South Africa's Waterberg Coal Field. The majority of the electricity generated is intended for export under a long-term power purchase agreement to South Africa's national utility, Eskom Holdings Limited. Phase One of the Mmamabula Energy Project is planned as a 2,100 to 2,500 megawatt (MW) power plant with an integrated 7.5 to 9.0 million tonne per annum coal mine scheduled to be in commercial operation in 2012. Additional information with respect to the mineral resource estimate for Mmamabula is contained in a technical report of Snowden Mining Industry Consultants ("Snowden") dated June 1, 2007 and entitled "CIC Energy Corp.: Mmamabula Project, South-eastern Botswana, Project No. J912, National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report", a copy of which has been filed on SEDAR and may be accessed at www.sedar.com. Snowden is an international minerals consultancy group independent of CIC Energy. The Company issued a news release on April 18, 2007 announcing an updated mineral resource estimate for Mmamabula. The global mineral resource estimate for Mmamabula now totals approximately 2.3 billion tonnes of coal, which is comprised of approximately 1,660 million tonnes in the measured category and approximately 637 million tonnes in the indicated category. Snowden has concluded that coal from the Dovedale, Serorome and Mmamabula South Blocks is suitable for steam-producing thermal power generation, with raw coal calorific values ("CV") of approximately 20.5 mega joules per kilogram ("MJ/kg") for the D1 seam and 23.2 MJ/kg for the M2 seam; these qualities compare favorably with those reported for the Mookane Block of 21.7 MJ/kg for the D1 seam and 23.1 MJ/kg for the M2 seam. Ms. Lesley Jeffrey is the "Qualified Person" for Mmamabula within the meaning of NI 43-101. Ms. Jeffrey is employed by Bon-Terra, a subsidiary of CIC Energy. CIC Energy has a treasury of approximately CDN$121 million. About Jacobs Jacobs (NYSE:JCE) is one of the world's largest and most diverse providers of professional technical services with annual revenues exceeding US$8 billion. Jacobs has extensive experience in applying gasification to meet the needs of various industries and has developed proprietary technology to improve the performance of gasification plants. Jacobs also has extensive experience in the production of chemicals and fuels produced from syngas. For more information on Jacobs please visit www.jacobs.com. About Wood Mackenzie: Wood Mackenzie has been providing a unique range of research products and consulting services to the energy and life sciences industries globally for over 30 years. Wood Mackenzie clients include 40 out of the top 50, energy and pharmaceutical companies worldwide. For more information on Wood Mackenzie please visit www.woodmac.com. Forward-Looking Statements [ snip ]