Aim-listed Edenville Energy says the washing of run-of-mine (RoM) coal at its Rukwa coal project, in Tanzania, has been hampered by high moisture content, given the ongoing rainy season in the country.

In dry periods, the moisture content is reduced sufficiently to enable the RoM coal to be processed and washed.

Only from March 20 could the wash plant operate for at least four hours a day – 50% of the eight-hour shift – on six occasions. On these days, the wash plant averaged more than 10 t of coal an hour.

The company targets a production rate of 2 500 t of washed coal a month.

Only 594 t of coal was washed in March.

While CEO Noel Lyons expects washed coal figures to remain volatile in April, he is confident it will meet its base case production target in May, when the rainy season typically ends.

The company is due to supply 2 000 t of washed coal a month at a pre-transport price of $98/t, or $55/t on a net basis, from June.

Meanwhile, Edenville continues with work to expand the Rukwa resource and has identified an additional accessible coal seam to increase the potential of the project.

The company also continues to investigate the merits of bringing an additional wash plant to Rukwa, given customer interest. Discussions with potential customers have indicated demand for an additional 8 000 t to 10 000 t of washed coal a month.