By David Whitehouse
The final production sharing agreement for Invictus Energy's Cabora Bassa project is now being prepared, with the granting of "National Project Status" opening the door to fiscal incentives.
The Qatari investment group Al Mansour Holdings in August agreed to provide up to $500 million to finance Cabora Bassa as part of a deal to take a 19.9% stake in Invictus.
The World Bank has estimated that between 2000 and 2021, Zimbabwe's overall energy consumption dropped by about 25% even as the mining sector expanded.
The bank estimates that 2022 actual electricity usage in mining was 3,000 gigawatt hours (GWh), versus estimated grid supply of 2,000 GWh, with miners relying on back-up supply to plug the gap.
Hydro generation has been constrained by low water levels at the Kariba Dam, while coal-fired units at Hwange have suffered from breakdowns. The government, meanwhile, is perpetually short of money to pay for energy imports.
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The country's chamber of mines in August said that national utility Zesa Holdings has been able to shield the industry from the worst of the shortages by prioritising supply to mines.
Still, miners have been moving into captive power generation. Examples include a 185MW solar project developed by Zimplats, the first phase of which was commissioned in July.
Invictus discovered gas at the Mukuyu well at Cabora Bassa in December 2023 and has an 80% interest in the project. Prospects in the license area are estimated to have a prospective resource of 2.9 trillion cubic feet and 184 million barrels of condensate.
Cabora Bassa has the potential to improve energy access for the domestic mining industry,according to Invictus managing director Scott Macmillan.
"Domestic gas can underpin energy security for miners," he says. "We have been approached and continue to have conversations with dozens of mining and industrial power users," he said.
Australian-listed Invictus in April 2024 signed an MoU with Dallaglio Investments and power generator Himoinsa to supply gas to replace diesel-fired generation at the Eureka gold mine about 50km from the Mukuyu field.
The next 24 months will see well testing and appraisal drilling at Mukuyu, pilot production planning for the Eureka project and completion of permitting and infrastructure approvals, Macmillan says.
There's also potential for Mukuyu to supply gas into neighbouring countries through the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP). Macmillan points to the existence of three major SAPP interconnectors within 100km of Cabora Bassa. Source Mining Journal
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