On account of “overwhelming” curiosity in diamond and metals explorer Tsodilo Sources’ authorized motion towards the Botswana Ministry of Minerals & Power (MME), the previous has established touchdown pages on its web site that it says are commonly up to date to incorporate all information associated to the litigation.
On or about June 30, 2021, Tsodilo’s wholly-owned Botswana subsidiary Gcwihaba Sources submitted seven prospecting renewal licence functions for its Xaudum Iron Formation (XIF) challenge in north-west Botswana.
On the time, two licences have been relinquished of their entirety, whereas 5 have been submitted for renewal, following which 50% of the mixed licence space within the seven licences was relinquished by way of sections 17 and 19 of Botswana’s Mines and Minerals Act.
In January this yr, 4 of the 5 licences that comprise the huge bulk of the exploration goal within the XIF challenge have been renewed as submitted, whereas the fifth – PL020/2018, continued within the renewal course of.
Regardless of periodic inquiries concerning the licence renewal standing, Tsodilo was first notified of a potential motive for the continued delay on April 26, when the Minerals and Power Minister knowledgeable Gcwihaba that a part of the XIF space included in licence PL020/2018 is within the buffer zone surrounding the Okavango Delta – a Unesco World Heritage Property, and that any prospecting actions in that space could be topic to environmental evaluation measures.
Whereas the majority of Tsodilo’s XIF useful resource stays freed from any dispute, it says the realm throughout the buffer zone is of ample worth – sufficient to compel Tsodilo to “shield shareholder curiosity” in pursuing the licence.
In October, Tsodilo mentioned it additionally believed the conduct of the Botswana authorities in reference to the licence renewal course of left it with no different recourse than to hunt decision within the courts.
Accordingly, litigation was initiated on October 31.
Nonetheless, Tsodilo says that since beginning litigation, it has obtained an “overwhelming” request for continuing filings and associated documentation pertinent to the matter, culminating within the creation of the web touchdown pages to make sure it stays “absolutely clear and meet[s] the quantity of requests”.
The XIF challenge is situated within the north-west district of Botswana near the Namibian border, mendacity about 35 km from the city of Divundu in Namibia.
Preliminary work on the XIF challenge outlined a inferred mineral useful resource estimate of 441-million tons with a median grade of 29.4% iron, 41% silicone dioxide, 6.1% aluminium oxide and 0.3% phosphorus for the Block 1 magnetite XIF.
