karoo

Peninsula Energy (ASX: PEN) has found success with the initial drill holes at the company’s highly prospective Site 45, part of the Karoo Uranium Molybdenum Projects in South Africa.

Drilling is being carried out to follow up on mineralisation defined by exploration in the 1970’s, carried out by Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company.

Peninsula is also targeting a maiden JORC Resource in December 2012.

Assays from the current drilling program have returned highlight intercepts of:

– 1.2 metres at 2,026 parts per million uranium equivalent from 6.3 metres;
– 1.3 metres at 1,837 parts per million uranium equivalent from 16.9 metres; and
– 1.3 metres at 1,177 parts per million uranium equivalent from 17.8 metres.

To date, 63 reverse circulation drill holes have been completed, with 54 of these intersecting mineralisation.

A total of 13 drill holes have returned grades greater than 1,000 parts per million uranium equivalent.

Importantly, these results confirm the presence of high grade uranium mineralisation within the area defined by previous exploration.

Site 45 covers 489 square kilometres, 120 kilometres northwest of Beaufort West, in South Africa’s Western Cape province.

In addition to drilling at Site 45, Peninsula plans to follow up on a number of high priority targets across the Karoo Projects.

Early geological studies have established an exploration target of 30 to 60 million tonnes at between 700 and 1,400 parts per million uranium equivalent, for between 90 and 150 million pounds of uranium equivalent.

Peninsula is aiming to delineate a resource of at least 30 million pounds of uranium equivalent, which would support the development of a central processing facility at Karoo.

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Articles

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  Time running out to meet nuclear target
  

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  Energy Minister Peters ‘prays’ for fracking
  

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  Cabinet to get fracking report in July
  

There is still no certainty on whether South Africa is ready to be “fracked” with different interest groups all pleading their case for or against developing the shale gas industry.

Econometrix director Rob Jeffrey said at a conference hosted by the Fossil Fuel Foundation this week that the development of a shale gas industry could be a “game changer” for South Africa.

Some estimates put SA’s potential shale gas resource at 485trillion cubic feet of gas, or about the fifth-largest resource in the world.

According to a recent report by Econometrix (commissioned by Shell) the shale gas industry could add up to R200-billion a year to the country’s GDPand create 700000 jobs. Currently, South African petrochemicals giant Sasol contributes about R60-billion a year to the country’s GDP.

However, Maarten de Wit, a professor at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University who has been studying the Karoo shale gas area for years, warned at the conference that these numbers might be overestimated and more of a “thumb suck”.

“Nevertheless, even at lower numbers, it still is a lot of gas,” he said.

Currently, hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is either banned or under a moratorium in 146 regions across the globe, including South Africa.

“There is a reason why these regions have chosen to forego the economic benefits that can be derived from fracking,” said Jonathan Deal, chairman of the Treasure the Karoo Action Group, which is opposed to fracking.

A recent report by the International Energy Agency stated that following best practice when extracting shale gas, which includes steel casings, could increase the cost of a typical well by about 7% but could greatly assist with the safe development of the shale gas industry across the world.

However, Gerrit van Tonder, a professor at the University of the Free State, said cement and steel casings in the Karoo would inevitably deteriorate and fail over time, resulting in the upward migration of fracking fluids to ground water zones.

The controversy over fracking stems from concerns about the safety of the technology, which uses large amounts of clean water mixed with sand and a “chemical cocktail” to crack underground rocks and release the shale gas.

Different sectors of the SA government all seem to be fighting for their own mandate in the shale gas debate.

The National Development Plan states that SA has to move away from coal-fired electricity to cleaner fuels, but also promises clean drinking water for all, which could be compromised by shale gas extraction.

Last year, Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu announced a moratorium on fracking and set up a task team, which included representatives of relevant state departments, to investigate the method further.

Since then, Energy Minister Dipuo Peters has voiced her hope that shale gas exploration will go ahead. She said the development of a shale gas industry will greatly assist the country to build up energy supplies and move to a lower carbon economy.

However, the announcement that South Africa will host more than 70% of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope project in the Northern Cape could also affect fracking plans.

Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor warned that fracking will not be allowed to threaten the SKA’s highly sensitive equipment.

Another problem is the fact that SA does not have much expertise in the oil and gas industry. The country has been extracting minerals commercially for more than 100 years, but has just about no experience, skills, infrastructure or regulation when it comes to a gas industry.

Doug Bentley, manager of Schumberger, which has been working on shale gas operations for the past 11 years, said at this week’s conference that “people want to work” and these hurdles can be overcome.

He said the US is currently completing a four-year review of fracking and the shale gas industry and that SA will do well to look at the US review to set up possible regulation in the country.

The National Energy Regulator is also excited at the prospect of fracking, with regulatory member Ethel Teljeur emphasising that there is a lot of room to grow the country’s gas industry.

But Deal warned that it is very hard to “close the stable door once the horse has bolted”. He called for a comprehensive assessment of fracking in SA across the scientific, environmental, social and economic spectrum.

Shell has said it will abandon its plans if the process to start exploration for shale gas becomes too onerous.

The oil and gas giant estimates that it will take about nine years (including regulatory delays) to explore the basin in the Karoo. If Shell does get the go-ahead, earliest production can be expected in about 2020. It takes about three years to construct a gas-fuelled power station.

Sasol is also considering shale gas possibilities in the Karoo. It put its Karoo exploration plans on hold late last year but recently bought into a shale gas project in Canada in which it will invest around $12-billion over the next five years.

BEEF BARONESS: Mandisa Kadalie

MANDISA Kadalie’s name stands for instant success with her regulars at her Karoo Cattle Land restaurant in Rosebank Mall’s Zone 2, especially those who love to sink their teeth into the restaurant’s prime steak or whatever grabs their fancy.

At first glance the restaurant looks like a steakhouse but closer scrutiny reveals that it offers something more than that: it’s a place with true South African soul and provides traditionally prepared meals.

The day we visited the franchise outlet it was filled with men and women of all ages and races, some chatting casually while others worked away on their laptops.

“This is a popular lunch spot for sophisticated business executives,” Kadaie says.

“People are attracted by our smooth mix of cutting-edge cosmopolitan décor and the family-friendly atmosphere.”

Considering its fine menu it is no wonder the place is frequented by executives.

The owner of this high-end franchise outlet says lunch hours are by far the busiest.

What is her winning formula?

“Hard work and a good work ethic. People like to come to a place that is run professionally.

“I work long hours and weekends, managing the staff, discussing menus, organising functions and taking bookings, and making sure everything is prepared and ready to function smoothly.”

Kadalie, who opened up last December, says owning a business is something she always wanted to do when she retired.

She says she was attracted to this particular franchise because it was “so workable”.

“Funders have an appetite for franchise outlets because they have been tried and tested. What attracted me to this business is that it reflects multi-culturalism and our rainbow nation.”

She adds that the restaurant is also raising the profile of the country in the world and elevating our culture’s cuisine internationally.

“We are surrounded by six top hotels. The place is also frequented by tourists who want to be exposed to local tastes. We have had French, American, German and Chinese diners to name just a few nationalities. It is a place where celebrities hang out, ” says the single mother of one, who grew up in Mthatha and studied in Europe.

This Webster University graduate, who holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree, says her business also caters for corporate lunches and dinners for companies around Rosebank and for families who want to celebrate special occasions.

“For events we do not charge for the venue, that is why we are popular with businesses. The place can take 150 people. What is great is that we are on the doorstep of the Gautrain stop.”

Kadalie, whose business was funded by the National Empowerment Fund (NEF), says starting this business was not an easy process. “I am grateful that NEF believed in my dream.”

Kadale now employs 28 people. Advice for those who want to do this kind of business?

“Work with people who are doing what you love, and love what you are doing.”

Dandan

Not enough, not at all impressed, this is what we are complaining about , when our funds are distributed to the cities and elitists , it is so disappointing that youth graduates with business plans are not seen yet you come to tell us about a retired mom who should have used her severance package to start business , this is not on at all.

Its worrying that professionals have big mouth about ANC leadership , yet they do such shoddy work , its true that an empty tin makes lot of noise, where is the youth.

There is no doubt that this had connection or favouritism, government fund is very rare to fund sole proprietor than CC, why they did nt fund a CC, what is really one out of 45million people.

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Dandan

MGEEZ

is your aunt , sorry for coming hard, in actuall fact I dont have a problem with her my problem is with NEF, for nt doing enough, what is your vomit I dont know because government direction is to fund coops otherthan sole proprietor
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Dandan

THEOZA

uzoyithola kanjani ungenayo iconnection
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LONDON, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ —
Based on its recent analysis of the power generation market, Frost Sullivan recognises Karoo Sustainable Energy (Pty) Ltd; [KSE] with the 2012 Africa Competitive Strategy Leadership Award. KSE is an independent power producer (IPP) actively pursuing power development projects in Botswana since 2008.

“The company has exhibited a competitive edge over the other entities operating in the same environment, as reflected by its pioneering position of first IPP in Botswana,” notes Frost Sullivan Research Analyst Celine Paton. “Furthermore, the company has managed to negotiate the first Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with BPC which constitutes a first step to structure the financing of its – 180 MW power generation project.”

In 2008, KSE was awarded a 270MW tender, issued by the Botswana Power Corporation, for the development of 270MW emergency power plant. Due to the global economic crisis of 2008-2009, the project was restructured into a 90MW dual fuel (gas and diesel) and 180MW gas power plants. The 90MW became a fast track project jointly developed with BPC and Debswana Diamond Mining Company.

Companies entering a market affected by shortages generally aim to provide innovative interim solutions. The same principle has been applied by KSE as it developed in partnership with BPC and Debswana the Orapa 90 MW emergency power plant. In addition to its initial role as developer, KSE eventually became asset manager of the power station in recognition of its skill wealth and vast experience in IPP markets. In this context, KSE showed flexibility, patience and a strong ability to listen to BPC requirements by leveraging its competitive intelligence.

The Orapa 90 MW power plant was commissioned in August 2011. “The power plant will be used for peak load and will run with diesel in a first stage,” adds Paton. “The power plant can alternatively run with gas (sourced from coal bed methane) thanks to the technology used (dual-fuel GE turbines), which should provide substantial operating savings.”

The Orapa 90 MW power plant will help alleviate the power deficit that Botswana is facing during peak hours. This will help contributing to the country’s economic growth as it will reduce the risk of implementing load shedding measures.

The second power plant of 180 MW (Mmashoro 180 MW) is also planned for development in the medium term. This project will be built, owned and operated by KSE. The related PPA with BPC has been fully negotiated and submitted to the relevant Ministries, for approval and final signature.

Drilling of the first ever horizontal CBM wells in Africa has commenced for the Mmashoro 180MW power station and the first set of wells will enter production in the 4th quarter of 2012.

When implemented, the Mmashoro 180 MW power plant will significantly increase the country’s power supply. It will further offer the possibility to provide base and peak load power thanks to its affordable operating costs (expected to be lower than those of coal-fired power plants).

“Currently, KSE has a small market share in power generation as the Orapa power plant is only to be used for peak load,” remarks Paton. “However, as soon as Mmashoro power plant comes on stream, it will become a significant player.”

KSE will be the first vertically-integrated IPP in Botswana when it will be able to use its gas sourced from its coal bed methane resources. KSE is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kalahari Energy (Botswana) Ltd, a 50-50 joint venture between Kalahari Energy BVI Ltd and TUTEN, reflecting a perfect combination of complementary experience.

The Competitive Strategy Leadership Award is awarded to the company that has excelled in leveraging competitive intelligence and in executing a competitive strategy that has led to an impact on market share. The company is also commended for its competitive brand positioning (brand strength and unique market position) and for the impact its strategies have had on customer satisfaction/value.

Frost Sullivan Best Practices awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

About Karoo Sustainable Energy (Pty) Ltd.

KSE is an IPP in Botswana that was formed in 2008 to develop, own and operate a 270MW coal bed methane fired power station in Botswana that would sell capacity and energy to the Botswana Power Corporation under long term off-take agreements. KSE and its sponsors have extensive experience in developing thermal IPP’s from conceptualization through to commercial operation, including the mobilization, hiring and training of a fully capable operations and maintenance staff.

KSE is currently owned 50% each by Kalahari Energy “KE” and Tuma Energy Environment, a Cyprus company that is the international business vehicle for Tuten Ltd. (“TUMA” or “TUTEN”).

KE (
www.kalaharienergy.net ) has been a pioneer of CBM development in Botswana since 2000 and can be credited for conducting successful initial CBM exploration creating current CBM frenzy in Botswana. KE is also, the only Botswana based group with the capability of providing well completion services for CBM gas production.

TUTEN (
www.tutsel.com ) is a boutique power project development company based in Istanbul. Tuten is also the authorized sales representative of GE Aero Energy in Turkey.

About Frost Sullivan

Frost Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today’s market participants.

Our “Growth Partnership” supports clients by addressing these opportunities and incorporating two key elements driving visionary innovation: The Integrated Value Proposition and The Partnership Infrastructure.

The Integrated Value Proposition provides support to our clients throughout all phases of their journey to visionary innovation including: research, analysis, strategy, vision, innovation and implementation.

The Partnership Infrastructure is entirely unique as it constructs the foundation upon which visionary innovation becomes possible. This includes our 360 degree research, comprehensive industry coverage, career best practices as well as our global footprint of more than 40 offices.

For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies?

Contact:

Catherine BrassellBest PracticesFrost SullivanTel: +4420 79157867Email: catherine.brassell@frost.com

Same MakukuManager Business DevelopmentKS Energy (Pty) LtdPlot 20561 Unit 4, Sekotlo Road, Broadhurst, Gaborone, BotswanaP O Box 401907, Gaborone, BotswanaTel: +267 3180272Fax: +267 3180336Cell: +267 72302097 Email: same.makuku@kse.co.bw

SOURCE Frost Sullivan

Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

The Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) and local energy firm, Karoo Sustainable Energy (KSE) have sealed a multi-million Pula deal that will see the construction of a 180-megawatt power station fuelled by coal bed methane next year.The deal, which takes the form of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), has reached the final draft stage and is expected to be signed by July, more than two years after negotiations kicked off.The PPA with KSE is the first of its kind in Botswana.Under the 15-year deal, KSE will build, own and operate a 180-megawatt (MW) power station to be built in Mmashoro, and supply the BPC with power. The station will use the proven riches of coal bed methane (CBM) in the area.

On Wednesday, the CEO of Kalahari Energy (KSE’s holding company), Steve Martin told Business Week the PPA required financial close of the project within 15 months of signing and full commercial operations within 21 months. “The negotiations have been finalised and we are in a situation of waiting for the BPC to submit a final draft of the agreement for signing, which we expect in July,” Martin said in an interview.”I cannot compliment the BPC and the ministry (minerals, energy and water resources) enough for understanding their role in helping us commercialise CBM in Botswana.”They have been very supportive in how this deal is structured especially in giving us flexibility and time for a financial close.”In many countries I have worked in, you will not find parastatal stakeholders realising that they hold a huge responsibility for the commercialisation of such projects.” The PPA tariff, denominated in US dollars, consists of a capacity and energy charge, the former accounting for the capacity available to the BPC and the latter being the actual consumption.

In addition, the PPA features a minimum take-or-pay volume, with KSE expecting that the Mmashoro power station will run for an average of 15 hours a day. The government has reportedly provided a guarantee or the BPC’s payment obligations. Besides the usual sensitivity associated with PPAs, negotiations between the two parties were further complicated by the fact that CBM pricing is a novelty in Botswana.”When the BPC put the tender out, they only mentioned the power they wanted and left the fuel solution to the potential bidders,” said Martin.”This allowed us to bid an electricity tariff competing against coal, liquid fuels and others.”

KSE expects to spend P189 million by the end of the year being for exploration and production of gas, with another P150 million for capital investment and equipment. Seventy-five percent of the funding will be debt and the balance, equity, with a potential provider of the former already identified.  Under the PPA, the BPC has allowed financial closure, or the sealing of binding commitments for funding from equity holders and debt financiers, to be in two parts within the 15 months. According to Martin, the Mmashoro power station will resemble the Orapa 90 MW facility, which KSE is running under an asset management agreement with the BPC. According to its design, the Orapa station is scheduled to switch from diesel to CBM.

“The Mmashoro power station will be exactly the same technology as Orapa, equipped with four 45 megawatt General Electric turbines,” he said.”The project will feature fully integrated CBM production wells and gas gathering, transport and storage facilities.”The CEO estimated that Kalahari Energy’s lease area in the Central District has enough CBM to support 1,300 MW of generation for 30 years. Botswana is estimated to contain enough recoverable gas to produce 30,000 MW of power for 30 years. KSE is continuing its exploration and development of gas wells on its lease area.”Our aim is to work with the BPC to grow our generation to 1,000 MW and allow the BPC to be the exporter and trader of power in the Southern African Power Pool,” Martin said.”The additional exploration is growing the company towards that 1,000 MW which we hope to achieve by 2020,” he stressed.

ALTHOUGH it is situated at the heart of the popular Route 62, the small town of Ladismith is in the shadow of its more illustrious neighbours, fashionable Barrydale to the west and the port wine capital of Calitzdorp to the east. This is a pity as the town has much to offer and the only shadow is cast by Towerkop mountain, which looms high above the town like a beacon marking its position in the Karoo.

Although Towerkop, at 2189m high, is not the highest mountain in the Karoo, its unusual split peak can be seen for hundreds of kilometres. Urban legend has it that an angry witch flying over the mountain on a stormy night came across the peak blocking her flight path, so in anger she struck it with her wand, causing it to split. Now, instead of having a single peak, it has two dome-shaped peaks, presenting a challenge to the mountaineers who come here to conquer it.

However, one does not have to be an energetic mountaineer to enjoy the fruits of Ladismith, which owes its existence to the extensive farms in the area, responsible for about 30% of South Africa’s apricot exports.

As with many Karoo towns, the skyline is dominated by a church spire. In fact, the town was founded by local authorities as there was already a “handsome” church in the area. It was named after Juana Maria de los Delores de Leon, the Spanish wife of Sir Harry Smith, governor of the Cape. They were married when she was only 14 and their love affair is legendary in the town, with claims that she accompanied him into every battle in which he was involved. The spelling was changed in 1879 to avoid confusion with Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal.

The church in question is now home to the local information office and an art gallery and is a venue for regular historical talks. It was designed by a German architect, Carl Otto Hager, who was also responsible for the design of 13 other churches in South Africa, including the well-known Dutch Reformed Church in Stellenbosch.

The Ladismith church was used until 1942, when the congregation decided that the roof was unsafe and abandoned the building to build another church in the town. Since then, the roof of the new church has been rebuilt three times, while the old church’s roof remains in perfect condition. It is here that the Info’s Hettie Weymar happily greets visitors to the town as she has done since the mid-1990s. She has called Ladismith home since 1964 but, after a spell in Cape Town, she returned to the town she loves and now shares its joys with all who step into the old church to listen.

One of the delights is next door in the Oude Pastorie Wijnhuis, where, after sampling the country wines of the area, produced at the cellar in town, we sit in the sun enjoying tea and scones, armed with directions to find some of the sights suggested by Weymar.

First stop is the leafy back streets, which boast an incredible array of different architectural styles for such a small town. Many of the buildings. some of which are national monuments, are Victorian, Neo-Gothic, Lithuanian, Edwardian, Cape Dutch and Regency, while according to Weymar, a style unique to Ladismith has evolved, which she describes as a simplified Georgian design. This is generally a flat-roof design with two sash windows at the front and back, to keep out the heat, and whitewashed walls. Most of the materials came from the area, including extensive yellowwood. On request, Weymar will take visitors on a walking tour of the town to make they do not miss anything.

Following Weymar’s directions and armed with the Info map, we head out of town on a gravel road for the Hoeko Valley. We stop along the way to admire what can be seen of the Elandsberg Water Seepage Tunnel. Initially built in 1910, this is a unique, underground tunnel excavated beneath the Swartberg River bed to deliver pure drinking water to Ladismith.

Pressing deeper into the valley with its lush pastures, we come across a pink house next to the road but partially hidden by trees and bushes. Were it not for Weymar’s directions, we might well have passed it without noticing. This is where CJ Langenhoven was born in 1873, and the grand surroundings of mountain peaks, deep valleys and endless blue sky may well have given him the inspiration for the words of Die Stem. The house is now privately owned and is not open to the public. Obviously, much has changed over the years and, despite boasting a satellite dish, it is nevertheless a landmark in the area.

A latter-day legend of Ladismith is Stanley de Witt, who, in 1963, created what must rank as the world’s smallest hydroelectric unit.

While on a hike, he noted a perennial stream cascading over the rocks and this gave him the idea of establishing a light on the cliffs. With a rucksack full of building materials, he climbed the Elandsberg mountain and, with a plastic pipe, bicycle dynamo and a six-volt light, he created his own unique landmark, a bright light that is driven continuously by the stream and can be seen from all over the town.

For 30 years, De Witt maintained his light, making 278 trips up the mountain and covering 3291km in the process, until his legs could no longer stand it and others took over.

De Witt was later honoured by a nearby shoe factory, when they dedicated their 10000th pair of velskoene to him and named them Stanley’s Velskoene.

One does not have to follow De Witt all the way up the mountain to appreciate the sweeping vistas of the area. The less energetic will enjoy any of the several hiking trails that enable one to commune with nature and observe the mountain fynbos, the Karoo veld and spekboom and succulents. There is also a good chance of spotting klipspringer, duiker, springbok and other larger buck while on a hike.

A day is not really sufficient to discover Ladismith, but fortunately there are several bed and breakfasts and restaurants, which Weymar will delight in recommending, making it a different weekend away on Route 62.

• Ladismith information: 028-551-1378.

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VANCOUVER, June 25, 2012 /CNW/ – Tanzania Minerals Corp. (the “Company”
or “Tanzania“) (TSX-V: TZM.V) (FRANKFURT: CA87600X1087) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a non-binding Letter of
Intent dated May 15, 2012, with Karoo Exploration Corp. (“Karoo”)
whereby Karoo can acquire a 100% interest in certain mineral claims
located in the Songea and Lindi regions of southern Tanzania (the
“Property”).  Karoo is a privately held mining company, incorporated
under the laws of British Columbia.

Pursuant to the non-binding Letter of Intent, Tanzania will grant to
Karoo the option to acquire a 100% interest in the Property (the
“Option”), by issuing 1,200,000 common shares to Tanzania, and
incurring exploration expenditures on the Property totaling $750,000,
all over a three year period.  Upon exercise of the Option, Karoo will
grant to Tanzania a 2.0% NSR on the proceeds of any commercial
production from the Property.  One-half of the NSR and a right of first
refusal on the other half can be purchased by Karoo for a cash payment
of $2,000,000.  The other half of the NSR can be purchased by Karoo for
a cash payment of $5,000,000.

During the term of the Option, Tanzania will have the right to nominate
2 individuals to the board of Karoo.  It is anticipated that prior to
exercise of the Option, Karoo will list its shares on a public stock
exchange, or complete a transaction with an existing publically traded
company. The transaction is conditional upon Tanzania entering into a
definitive option agreement with Karoo.

For more information, contact Kal Matharu at (204) 942-3191.

Additional information, including technical reports and other public
documents are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com or on the Company’s website at www.tanzaniaco.com.

Tanzania Minerals Corp. is an emerging junior exploration company
trading on the TSX Venture Exchange.  The Company has an extensive
portfolio of projects in Tanzania.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Tanzania Minerals Corp.

Kal Matharu, President CEO

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as
that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange)
accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Statements included in this announcement, including statements
concerning our plans, intentions and expectations, which are not
historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as,
“forward?looking statements”.  Forward?looking statements may be
identified by words including “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”,
“estimates”, “expects” and similar expressions.  The Company cautions
readers that forward?looking statements, including without limitation
those relating to the Company’s future operations and business
prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the
forward?looking statements.

For further information:

Tanzania Minerals Corp.
Kal Matharu
President and CEO
Tel:  (204) 942-3191
Fax: (204) 944-0513
www.tanzaniaco.com

2012-06-21 13:10

South Africa’s display at the Chelsea Flower Show has won gold. (Duncan Alfreds, News24)

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Duncan Alfreds

Cape Town – The United Nations Development Programme through the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Special Climate Change Fund has donated $3.5m to South Africa to help with fire management in the fynbos biome.

The money will help the department of environmental affairs to manage fires in highly sensitive fynbos areas over a three year period.

“The Fynbos Fire Project is therefore aimed to develop sustainable interventions to radically inform the approach to managing wild fires and to implement strategies critical to good practice,” Dr Christo Marais, natural resource manager in the department of environmental affairs told News24.

Negotiators at the UN-sponsored Rio+20 climate conference in Brazil are engaged in discussions to map the way forward for a global climate pact.

It is expected that climate change will make bigger environment impacts, particularly on sensitive ecosystems and the UN agency sees this programme as a way to address climate change adaptation.

Unique

SA has seven main biomes in the country but the fynbos in the Western Cape is unique in the world. Fire management is critical to the biome because the vegetation requires small, infrequent fire to assist with germination, but a massive fire, especially in the wrong season, is devastating.

The department of environmental affairs runs the Working for Water and Working for Fire programmes and Marias said that a lot of work needs to be done to change attitudes to fire management.

“Through these two programmes the South African government is investing billions of rand in natural resource management and the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystems services,” he said.

The allocation for these programmes is R1.093bn for water and R383m for fire in the current financial year, but Marais said that while biomes of the Karoo were not susceptible to fire, there have been reports of fires, following a particularly wet season.

“The biomes that are not fire prone are the two Karoo biomes, the Thicket biome and the Forest biome. It could be disastrous if we have an encroachment of certain species into the Karoo that could lead to fires in the Karoo.”

The GEF supports technology transfer of fire management in developing countries and the programme will seek to address the training and assistance needs of fire protection agencies (FPAs).

Private sector

“There are a huge number of FPAs registered, but what my colleagues are saying to me is that these FPAs aren’t always functional as they should be and the Fynbos Project is going to look at rationalising the configuration of government protocols for these FPAs,” said Marais.

He added that the buy-in of the private sector was important to the management of fynbos. Many species are found of private farms and some farmers have been actively reducing the number of invasive alien plants on their properties.

“If integrated fire management for this country is going to work, it’s only going to work with the intense involvement of the private sector,” he said.

– Follow Duncan on Twitter
 

What was to have been a week’s foray into the Karoo was truncated when, on a hike up a section of the Bloupunt trail in the Montagu mountains, I injured my knee. We always stay at the Montagu Country Hotel (winter specials), an art deco establishment inside and out, with 1940s furniture, paintings, objets d’art and a wonderful septuagenarian pianist, Kosie Hanekom, who plays during dinner hour every night except Fridays, which is his bridge night out. He told me this time that his bridge partner’s wife had left him for his best friend, and now they celebrate as a threesome.

Kosie models his playing on Charlie Kunz, an old favourite of my father’s, who was himself a pianist. I already had one of Kosie’s CDs, but he insisted I have his latest. “It’s more laid back,” he explained.

The rooms are all high-ceilinged, and ours had a huge bathroom with a jacuzzi. My wife and I couldn’t remember when last we had had so much fun in a bathroom. Fortunately at that stage my left knee was still uncrocked.

Talking of crocks, opposite the hotel is Crocker’s, a second-hand bookshop recently taken over by a married couple who met via the internet. He is from Seattle, and is the deadspit of the film actor Ben Kingsley. No, nobody had remarked on this likeness before.

In spite of the knee, we carried on up Route 62 in the rain to Oudtshoorn and a BB overlooking the 98-year-old suspension bridge that spans the Grobbelaars River. I hobbled over it, just to say I had done it.

Next day I could barely walk, so we drove back along Route 62 to fetch two books I had inadvertently left at the hotel, one of which I had bought from Ben Kingsley’s lookalike. We gave Ronnie’s Sex Shop a miss in both directions, but we did stop, where we always do for coffee, at the Blue Cow on Barrydale’s “waterfront”, as they call the duckpond it overlooks.

Alas, the Blue Cow was closed. A year ago we had stopped there for coffee and got talking to a couple at the next table. It turned out they were the owners of a local guest house where we had spent a night in 2003. Vaguely I could remember having described our experience with them as something akin to Fawlty Towers, and felt it would be better if they |didn’t recognise me.

But then the wife said: “I remember you. That was when the taps weren’t working, and I left you to take tea in the library (an upstairs landing with two small shelves of Reader’s Digest condensed books), but forgot to bring you the tea.”

“I can’t remember that at all,” I lied.

“No, no dear,” her husband corrected her as he poured himself another glass of red wine, “that was John Scott the journalist.”

In the confusion we made our excuses and left. But when I looked up the column I discovered it was he who had said during breakfast: “Just think of us as Fawlty Towers, with me as Basil and her as Sybil.”

This time we had coffee at “Clarke of the Karoo”. There was a notice in front saying that in two weeks the restaurant would be moving to Barrydale’s hotel, but they would have the same friendly staff, the same excellent service and “the same grumpy owner”. I met Mr Grumpy himself, otherwise known as Mike Clarke, who came to South Africa with the British Lions in 1974.

He said nine of the 17 local restaurants had closed. Business could be better. Thank goodness for the Scotts, who come through every year and help to keep the survivors going.

 johnvscott@mweb.co.za

Peninsula Energy (ASX: PEN) has found success with the initial drill holes at the company’s highly prospective Site 45, part of the Karoo Uranium Molybdenum Projects in South Africa.

Drilling is being carried out to follow up on mineralisation defined by exploration in the 1970’s, carried out by Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company.

Peninsula is also targeting a maiden JORC Resource in December 2012.

Assays from the current drilling program have returned highlight intercepts of:

– 1.2 metres at 2,026 parts per million uranium equivalent from 6.3 metres;
– 1.3 metres at 1,837 parts per million uranium equivalent from 16.9 metres; and
– 1.3 metres at 1,177 parts per million uranium equivalent from 17.8 metres.

To date, 63 reverse circulation drill holes have been completed, with 54 of these intersecting mineralisation.

A total of 13 drill holes have returned grades greater than 1,000 parts per million uranium equivalent.

Importantly, these results confirm the presence of high grade uranium mineralisation within the area defined by previous exploration.

Site 45 covers 489 square kilometres, 120 kilometres northwest of Beaufort West, in South Africa’s Western Cape province.

In addition to drilling at Site 45, Peninsula plans to follow up on a number of high priority targets across the Karoo Projects.

Early geological studies have established an exploration target of 30 to 60 million tonnes at between 700 and 1,400 parts per million uranium equivalent, for between 90 and 150 million pounds of uranium equivalent.

Peninsula is aiming to delineate a resource of at least 30 million pounds of uranium equivalent, which would support the development of a central processing facility at Karoo.

Proactive Investors is a market leader in the investment news space, providing ASX “Small and Mid-cap” company news, research reports, StockTube videos and One2One Investor Forums.

An editorial in EngineerIT magazine floats the idea that a decision on shale gas drilling was delayed because of fears it might derail South Africa’s application to host the Square Kilometre Array telescope project. SKA supporters ought to be thankful Karoo residents weren’t more hostile, given the fact that its local benefits are probably less than that of “fracking”.

Imagine if Shell had waltzed into the Karoo, led by a coterie of fawning government ministers, and announced its intentions to erect steel structures in a few thousand isolated spots and build the required roads and pipes to connect them.

Then imagine the outcry if they added that a new law, especially created for them, would be used to restrain farmers and local residents from taking their trucks, tractors and farming machinery anywhere within a radius of between 11km and 30km of the sites (depending on the intervening landscape), under penalty of criminal prosecution.

Imagine if they met this outcry by telling the assembled crowd that that’s not all: arc welders and other machines that emit electro-magnetic frequency radiation, like certain kinds of electric fencing, would also be verboten.

Yet that is exactly what the Square Kilometre Array is proposing: plastering huge telescope structures all over the Karoo, and imposing strict measures on the residents of most of Northern Cape by means of the Astronomy Geographic Advantage Act, passed in 2007.

The SKA is an international project worth about R16-billion.It aims to erect several thousand radio telescopes radiating from a central core near Carnarvon containing about half the necessary receivers, and extending arms as far afield as Mauritius, Kenya and Ghana, in the hope of combining these individual receivers into a single virtual telescope with the largest collection area ever built.

Amid the celebration over having been awarded the largest part of the SKA project (Australia and New Zealand get to build one third) on Friday 25 May 2012, one editorial sounded a note of caution.

In EngineerIT magazine, Hans van den Groenendaal wrote a feature pulling together as much as he could find on whether shale gas drilling (known colloquially as “fracking”) and the SKA astronomy project could coexist without interference. He could not find much. He dug up an old editorial in which the SKA’s site characterisation manager, Adrian Tiplady, said he is opposed to any and all fossil fuels, and expressed the wish that shale gas drilling should “[j]ust stay away from the SKA.”

He also found an article I had written for ITWeb Brainstorm magazine, in which I asked both Shell and the SKA to explain their positions, especially as it relates to the part of one of Shell’s three prospecting blocks that overlaps the Astronomy Reserve protected by the AGA Act. In it, Shell declares itself to be in favour of the SKA project and commits itself to complying with the act.

For the SKA’s part, Tiplady expresses the view that the act would be sufficient to protect his science project: “Shale gas drilling near the site introduces a risk… If we didn’t have the act, and the co-operation of the various stakeholders, I would say it could have a potentially damaging risk.”

Given the limited information available on the subject, Van den Groenendaal’s speculation is that fracking might have been thought a threat to the SKA project, motivating the moratorium on the approval of shale gas exploration permits.

But frankly, the SKA project should be grateful that the people of the Karoo were not more hostile to it. Last year, I wrote a tongue-in-cheek column in which I presented an artist’s impression of what the SKA might look like, and called for it to be banned on the basis that its surface impact would be at least as bad that of shale gas operations in the Karoo.

It was intended as a call for the environmentalists who oppose gas drilling to be consistent and oppose the SKA on the same surface-impact grounds. Some Karoo residents, indeed, did take the issue more seriously. Realising for the first time that the square kilometre in the name did not refer to its geographical extent (an error even a professor of biotechnology, Peter Rose, made in a shale gas debate in which I participated at Rhodes University), they asked whether, given that Karoo residents didn’t want gas drilling, they really wanted the SKA in their collective backyard.

Their point is valid. Some likely benefits of hosting much of the SKA project in South Africa are undeniable. It will be a fillip to South Africa’s credibility in international scientific endeavours and will boost its academic infrastructure. Some jobs and much infrastructure will be created, especially during the construction phase of the massive project. Many astronomers, computer scientists and project engineers will learn from the SKA, and contribute to its findings. As with any scientific endeavour, spinoff benefits are likely to emerge in time.

However, the SKA will likely create fewer jobs than shale gas drilling, and while science for its own sake is very appealing (as it should be), it has little immediate relevance to the economic circumstances of the many poor and unemployed Karoo residents. By contrast, domestic access to an abundant supply of inexpensive and clean natural gas will have economic impacts far broader than just the oil and gas industry, for which every South African will have reason to be grateful.

If even a small fraction of the economic benefits that the late Tony Twine of Econometrix predicted in a report commissioned by Shell are realised, the benefits of shale gas drilling will not only exceed the small and manageable risk the industry poses, but will also exceed the immediate benefits of the SKA project.

Meanwhile, unlike shale gas drilling, the SKA will have obvious negative effects on local industry as a consequence of the legal restrictions imposed on the region to protect the radio silence of the region for astronomy purposes.

Based on the limited information available, the SKA and shale gas operations can co-exist with relatively little conflict, although the SKA will likely have more serious negative impacts on the Karoo’s residents.

Instead of taking aim at the equally valid interests of prospective gas drillers in the vast and arid region, we ought to be grateful that the people of the Karoo were not whipped into a frenzy of opposition to the massive astronomy project. Professional eco-worriers would not have found it hard to do.

iMaverick is South Africa’s first daily tablet newspaper and includes coverage from the Daily Maverick and Free African Media. To subscribe, go to: www.imaverick.co.za.

Girl, 14, bullied to death

Greg Maxwell

120308-Fracking- A team from Nieuwco Drilling is doing some Test Fracking in the Moutonshoek area near Piketberg. They are trying to find out if it will be viable to drill for minerals in the area. Pictures Greg Maxwell

Donwald Pressly

An inter-ministerial report on hydraulic fracturing in the Karoo has not yet been received by the cabinet, but all indications are that the controversial process of extracting shale gas from deep underground is likely to get the green light next month.

The government is remaining cautious, with Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Minister Collins Chabane telling a post cabinet briefing on Friday that “the report on fracking is not ready yet”.

However, last month Energy Minister Dipuo Peters described shale gas potential in the semi-desert region as a blessing from God. She told MPs: “It would be wrong for us to not use the resources that God left us with… It is my wish and prayer on a daily basis that when the report is tabled… it will say to us the gas is there and you can extract it safely for the benefit of the people of South Africa.”

When the report – ordered by Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu, and co-written by officials from the departments of Water and Environmental Affairs, Science and Technology, and Energy – was completed it would be put to the cabinet “and (to) stakeholders that are relevant to that subject”, Chabane said. Shabangu said it would be ready by next month.

Free State University professor Gerrit van Tonder, who said it looked like the government would back fracking, argued earlier this month that the process of extracting gas could result in one of the biggest water pollution problems in the world “if they use the nasty chemicals that they are using in the US”.

At Royal Dutch Shell’s hydraulic fracturing operations in Pinedale, Wyoming, Rob Wheeler, the completions and well intervention superintendent, reported on the slick water hydraulic fracturing fluids used in the fracking process.

They included guar gum or hydroxyethyl cellulose, ethylene glycol, sodium or potassium carbonate, sodium chloride, borate salts, citric acid N,n-dimethyl formamide, glutaraldehyde, acid, petroleum distillate, isopropanol, and potassium chloride.

Wheeler explained that the acids helped dissolve minerals and initiated fissures in rock. Their common application were as swimming pool cleaners. Glutaraldehyde eliminated bacteria in the water and its common application was as a disinfectant for medical and dental equipment.

Sodium chloride, like table salt, allowed a delayed breakdown of gel polymer chains, N,n-Dimethyl formamide prevented corrosion of the well pipe. It was used regularly in pharmaceuticals, acrylic fibres and plastics.

Borate salt maintained fluid viscosity as temperature increased. It was commonly used in laundry detergents, hand soaps and cosmetics, while polyacrylamide minimised friction between fluids and the pipes. Its regular application was for water treatment and soil conditioner. These were all used in tiny quantities.

Van Tonder said the Karoo geology was very similar to the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania, US – where there had been examples of contamination of water – but the Karoo was also riddled with dolorite dykes and kimberlite pipes, which is the consequence of volcanic action in the area 180 million years ago. “That is the wild card.”

These dykes were a natural pathway for water to rise upwards at shallow depths. He cited US hydrogeologist Tom Meyers who argued that there had historically been a slow movement upwards of deep water. But this was speeded up by the intrusion of wells drilled for shale gas.

With the inevitable failing of well casings “either sooner or later but especially later as cement deteriorates with time”, he argued, leaks would occur.

This process was enhanced with corrosive chemicals being present. The risk would also be enhanced by large numbers of boreholes.

Danie Vermeulen, a colleague of Van Tonder at the Institute for Groundwater Studies at Free State University, who visited Shell fracking operations in Pinedale last month, noted that there was plenty of water in the area, in contrast to the Karoo.

“In the US they just discard (water), we will have to re-use every drop that we have. We (in South Africa) will have to clean up the water to re-frack again.”

He maintained that if South Africa explored the nuclear power option, it could mean that the fracking debate could stop. However, South Africa could not depend on renewable sources of fuel.

“Solar and wind can’t produce all the energy we need… coal is not there for ever. Our only other option is shale gas.”

Donwald Pressly was a guest of Royal Dutch Shell in Wyoming.

LONDON, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ —
Based on its recent analysis of the power generation market, Frost Sullivan recognises Karoo Sustainable Energy (Pty) Ltd; [KSE] with the 2012 Africa Competitive Strategy Leadership Award. KSE is an independent power producer (IPP) actively pursuing power development projects in Botswana since 2008.

“The company has exhibited a competitive edge over the other entities operating in the same environment, as reflected by its pioneering position of first IPP in Botswana,” notes Frost Sullivan Research Analyst Celine Paton. “Furthermore, the company has managed to negotiate the first Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with BPC which constitutes a first step to structure the financing of its – 180 MW power generation project.”

In 2008, KSE was awarded a 270MW tender, issued by the Botswana Power Corporation, for the development of 270MW emergency power plant. Due to the global economic crisis of 2008-2009, the project was restructured into a 90MW dual fuel (gas and diesel) and 180MW gas power plants. The 90MW became a fast track project jointly developed with BPC and Debswana Diamond Mining Company.

Companies entering a market affected by shortages generally aim to provide innovative interim solutions. The same principle has been applied by KSE as it developed in partnership with BPC and Debswana the Orapa 90 MW emergency power plant. In addition to its initial role as developer, KSE eventually became asset manager of the power station in recognition of its skill wealth and vast experience in IPP markets. In this context, KSE showed flexibility, patience and a strong ability to listen to BPC requirements by leveraging its competitive intelligence.

The Orapa 90 MW power plant was commissioned in August 2011. “The power plant will be used for peak load and will run with diesel in a first stage,” adds Paton. “The power plant can alternatively run with gas (sourced from coal bed methane) thanks to the technology used (dual-fuel GE turbines), which should provide substantial operating savings.”

The Orapa 90 MW power plant will help alleviate the power deficit that Botswana is facing during peak hours. This will help contributing to the country’s economic growth as it will reduce the risk of implementing load shedding measures.

The second power plant of 180 MW (Mmashoro 180 MW) is also planned for development in the medium term. This project will be built, owned and operated by KSE. The related PPA with BPC has been fully negotiated and submitted to the relevant Ministries, for approval and final signature.

Drilling of the first ever horizontal CBM wells in Africa has commenced for the Mmashoro 180MW power station and the first set of wells will enter production in the 4th quarter of 2012.

When implemented, the Mmashoro 180 MW power plant will significantly increase the country’s power supply. It will further offer the possibility to provide base and peak load power thanks to its affordable operating costs (expected to be lower than those of coal-fired power plants).

“Currently, KSE has a small market share in power generation as the Orapa power plant is only to be used for peak load,” remarks Paton. “However, as soon as Mmashoro power plant comes on stream, it will become a significant player.”

KSE will be the first vertically-integrated IPP in Botswana when it will be able to use its gas sourced from its coal bed methane resources. KSE is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kalahari Energy (Botswana) Ltd, a 50-50 joint venture between Kalahari Energy BVI Ltd and TUTEN, reflecting a perfect combination of complementary experience.

The Competitive Strategy Leadership Award is awarded to the company that has excelled in leveraging competitive intelligence and in executing a competitive strategy that has led to an impact on market share. The company is also commended for its competitive brand positioning (brand strength and unique market position) and for the impact its strategies have had on customer satisfaction/value.

Frost Sullivan Best Practices awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

About Karoo Sustainable Energy (Pty) Ltd.

KSE is an IPP in Botswana that was formed in 2008 to develop, own and operate a 270MW coal bed methane fired power station in Botswana that would sell capacity and energy to the Botswana Power Corporation under long term off-take agreements. KSE and its sponsors have extensive experience in developing thermal IPP’s from conceptualization through to commercial operation, including the mobilization, hiring and training of a fully capable operations and maintenance staff.

KSE is currently owned 50% each by Kalahari Energy “KE” and Tuma Energy Environment, a Cyprus company that is the international business vehicle for Tuten Ltd. (“TUMA” or “TUTEN”).

KE (
www.kalaharienergy.net ) has been a pioneer of CBM development in Botswana since 2000 and can be credited for conducting successful initial CBM exploration creating current CBM frenzy in Botswana. KE is also, the only Botswana based group with the capability of providing well completion services for CBM gas production.

TUTEN (
www.tutsel.com ) is a boutique power project development company based in Istanbul. Tuten is also the authorized sales representative of GE Aero Energy in Turkey.

About Frost Sullivan

Frost Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today’s market participants.

Our “Growth Partnership” supports clients by addressing these opportunities and incorporating two key elements driving visionary innovation: The Integrated Value Proposition and The Partnership Infrastructure.

The Integrated Value Proposition provides support to our clients throughout all phases of their journey to visionary innovation including: research, analysis, strategy, vision, innovation and implementation.

The Partnership Infrastructure is entirely unique as it constructs the foundation upon which visionary innovation becomes possible. This includes our 360 degree research, comprehensive industry coverage, career best practices as well as our global footprint of more than 40 offices.

For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies?

Contact:

Catherine BrassellBest PracticesFrost SullivanTel: +4420 79157867Email: catherine.brassell@frost.com

Same MakukuManager Business DevelopmentKS Energy (Pty) LtdPlot 20561 Unit 4, Sekotlo Road, Broadhurst, Gaborone, BotswanaP O Box 401907, Gaborone, BotswanaTel: +267 3180272Fax: +267 3180336Cell: +267 72302097 Email: same.makuku@kse.co.bw

SOURCE Frost Sullivan

Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

Here she talks about her Karoo weekend getaway in Prince Albert.

Do you come here often?

About once every two months – not often enough.

Last year was wonderful: five years after we bought the original two-roomed cottage, complete with the previous owner’s furniture, we were finally building, which meant we had lots of excuses to come.

How did you go about decorating?

It was important for us to do it slowly – it took ages figuring out where the light falls and when.

We wanted the windows to act as picture frames for the surrounding landscape, and we took our time choosing which “pictures” we wanted framed.

What guided you?

I tried not to impose an alien aesthetic onto the quiet beauty and humility of the Karoo.

Everything has been done with the greatest appreciation for the surrounding environment.

Where did you source the majority of your items?

Most of my pieces are from years of careful collecting. I don’t believe in discarding beautiful furniture just because it’s old. There is beauty in decay, and in handcrafted pieces.

What makes the Karoo so special?

You can feel the heartbeat of everything here. People fall in love with the romance of small towns, but it can be challenging.

When the drought and the mosquitoes come, people sell up and move on. But I find sitting at the old monastery table eating homemade bread and jam or walking in the veld infinitely healing.

• This article appears in the June issue of Elle Decoration which is currently on sale

One of the production well sites in the Pinedale Anticline gas field in western Wyoming, with a drilling rig at the back. Photo: John Yeld.

The town of Pinedale in the US’ cowboy state of Wyoming is remarkably similar to the Karoo towns of Fraserburg or Carnarvon. It is also remote and full of tough people who are accustomed to living in a remote environment.

Like Pinedale, which was founded by John F Patterson in 1904, the South African towns could become the service centres for what is an already a well-established hydraulic fracturing industry in Sublette County. Royal Dutch Shell hosted a group, including two University of the Free State academics and the author, to study the impact of the controversial business on the area.

Ann Chambers Noble, the author of Images of America: Pinedale, says that the community – about 2 000 people, including 80 Shell support staff of engineers and chemists – has survived in fierce isolation. They first supplied the ranchers, outfitters and tie hacks.

She reports that the community underwent a fundamental change with the introduction of natural-gas mining in the 1990s but Shell itself has only been involved since 2005.

The process of fracking in Wyoming doesn’t appear to have many opponents. The mayor Stephen Smith won election on a pro-fracking ticket. The Museum of the Mountain Man director Laurie Hartwig is unapologetic about her support for the process. “We have had oil and gas (drilling) here since the 1930s,” she said.

Lara Ryan, the Wyoming Land Trust executive director, said that the bulk of the mining took place on federal land, but where farmers ran their cattle along the New Fork River, they received compensation.

Jan Willem Eggink, the upstream general manager of Shell South Africa, is adamant that the fracking process is safe. If the experience on the ground in Sublette County is anything to go by, environmental damage is likely to be limited.

The beauty of the process, the engineers in the Shell office in Pinedale argued, were the stringent tests of the integrity of the more or less vertical wells. They are encased with steel and concrete. Clean water is used in the drilling process about 500 metres down where there are aquifers. If a well is found to be faulty, it is plugged.

Although the Sublette County area looks dry and has a low rainfall it is surrounded by mountains, which are capped with snow even in summer, thus the underground water supply is plentiful. There is no need to re-use the the drilling and “fracking” operation water, whereas this will be a key issue in the Karoo.

The other key difference is that drilling in South Africa will go down 3 or 4km and then “fracking” legs will be run horizontally. Another difference is the nature of the anticline in Wyoming, where the drilling for “tight gas” is vertical.

Shell is not saying exactly where it will explore for shale gas in the Karoo after the moratorium is expected to end in July, although it has applied for a technical co-operation permit of the area covering the middle of the Karoo from Calvinia in the west to Beaufort West in the south to Carnarvon in the north and running down to Queenstown in the east.

However, Manuel Poupon, a Shell geologist, indicates that the anticipated gas rich-shale runs thinly near the surface at the north of the operating area but gets deeper and thicker – and easier and less riskier to exploit – down south.

Noting that early seismic studies done in the 1960s by Soekor (which merged with Mossgas to form PetroSA) indicated that there could be shale rich enough to produce gas, Poupon said.

Eggink said world energy demand was likely to double between 2000 and 2050 and Shell expects that oil exploitation will initially rise until about 2030 but gently fall thereafter with coal – and particularly gas – making an increasing contribution to the energy mix in the next 40 years.

In the US there has been a dramatic growth in the shale and tight gas contribution to its energy needs since 2005. Its abundance has turned the US from an importer to an exporter of energy.

South Africa needed to be weaned of its dependence on coal, which currently constitutes 90 percent of its electricity supply. “Substituting gas for coal will reduce carbon intensity and greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

Poupon and Eggink indicate that the troubles in Pavillion in the US, where aquifers were contaminated by gas, was likely to have been caused by fracking at shallow levels. Shell had made the commitment to only frack “at least at 1.5km below the surface”, said Poupon.

“In most cases in the US farmers have mineral rights who want to make big money… (and) they go to the cheapest operator and this doesn’t mean that they do the best job and they end up with these issues that the industry is blamed for.”

Shell envisaged at least six wells in the Karoo with a potential investment of $200 million (R1 704m).

The Pinedale anticline is about 250km² with reserves of about 25Tcf which are recoverable, enough energy to power 10 million homes for 30 years. The Karoo shale gas exploration area is about 90 000km².

The potential exploration area of Shell borders the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) project. Poupon points out that if there are any rigs in the area there will be an exclusion zone of 70km from the project’s radio stations dotted around the telescope.

Danie Vermeulen, the director of the Institute for Groundwater Studies at the University of the Free State, said the water difference between Pinedale and the Karoo meant that there had to be tight policing of the management of water if fracking went ahead.

Also there would be high costs involved for the development of water treatment plants.

Gideon Steyl, an associate professor of chemistry at the University of the Free State, said the chemicals used in the process of fracturing – which make up about 1 percent of the water injected under heavy pressure at the shale deep underground – were used in tiny quantities.

Donwald Pressly was a guest of Royal Dutch Shell

The realisation of sustained economic growth for South Africa will require a simultaneous boost to the country’s energy generation potential, which will not be sustainable through the provision of traditional fossil fuels, nuclear power and renewables alone.

Addressing delegates at the Shale Gas in South Africa Conference, in Johannesburg, late last month, Econometrix MD Rob Jeffrey asserted that the country’s economic potential could only be realised through the stimulation of the manufacturing and goods-producing sectors which, incidentally, are also the most energy hungry.

These industries, he said, could not be exclusively supported by traditional energy sources.

“South Africa should use what it has, and it has natural gas,” he remarked.

Jeffrey was referring to a natural shale gas reserve, located in the central Karoo and estimated at around 485- trillion cubic feet, which has been the focus of emotive debates around its exploitation potential.

While he conceded that a natural gas industry in South Africa would have to be built from the bottom up, he added that this would provide substantial job creation, investment, as well as upstream and downstream market potential, and may be a national game-changer.

“The creation of a natural gas industry would create about 704 000 jobs, thus affecting 2.8-million dependants as well as build infrastructure, and contribute billions of rands towards the gross domestic product,” he said.

The prospective move to diversify South Africa’s coal-dominated energy industry would align with government’s push towards a varied energy mix, but would require a level of expertise in natural gas extraction which does not currently exist in the country.

“We’ve long had coal, coal and more coal. Shale gas is very unfamiliar to us,” Industrial Petrochemical Consultants specialist Philip Lloyd told delegates.

He added that the average country sources around 30% of its energy from coal, 30% from crude oil and 30% from natural gas. Tellingly, South Africa sources only around 1% of its energy from natural gas, which is transported through an 800 km pipeline from neighbouring Mozambique.

The lack of a local gas industry also introduces challenges with regard to setting up a regulatory framework and policy. The State has currently imposed a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for shale gas in the country until a State-commissioned task team report is evaluated.

Meanwhile, energy giant Shell has said it is keen to move ahead with domestic exploration and plans to spend up to $200-million in a prospecting campaign that would involve the drilling of up to 24 wells in a 90 000 km2 area.

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University professor Maarten de Wit said at the conference that Shell had indicated it would not wait indefinitely for a lifting of the ban.

“Shell has already said that if there does not seem to be a near-term resolution, it would pack up and move on,” he commented.

The most critical area of contention surrounding the shale gas industry in South Africa is its undefined environmental impact, with the proposition of exploration in the Karoo drawing widespread and, at times, emotive opposition.

Jeffrey added that his evaluation of the industry’s potential did not factor in any environmental-impact studies.

“I’m an economist, not an environ- mentalist, so my position is advised purely by economics,” he said.

Opposition organisation the Treasure Karoo Action Group chairperson Jonathan Deal was adamant that it was essential for a structured analysis to not only take into account the industry-claimed benefits of shale gas, but it should also scientifically and economically consider the value of South Africa’s natural capital.

“The effect of fracking on the environment’s ability to provide water, grow crops, produce meat, regulate the weather and earn money from tourism must be taken into account,” he said.

He advanced that, before government gave fracking the nod, it had to be convinced that shale gas mining was the most sustainable mechanism for South Africa to create employment, generate energy and solve the challenges surrounding greenhouse-gas emissions, and added that he did not believe that the task team report would provide a true reflection of the cost-benefit profile.

“It is a flawed investigation. The report upon which government will base its decision will have been compiled in one-tenth of the time it took for the same investigation into fracking in the US, and excludes input from key Ministries such as Transport, Tourism, Agriculture and Rural Development,” he said.

He added that should Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu initiate the issuing of exploration licences based solely on this report, she would face harsh opposition.

“She will literally guarantee litigation involving government, those that would have applied for fracking rights and the South African taxpayer,” he said.

To subscribe to Engineering News’s print magazine email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or buy now.

“This is serious stuff. There will be trouble, and Shell and the
other companies involved must take note,” University of the Free State professor
Gerrit van Tonder told the Cape Times.

Last July he had told Karoo farmers they need not fear water
pollution from fracking, but his stance had changed since completing his latest
research.

He was “100 percent certain” that underground water in the Karoo
basin flowed upwards, and that there were a vast number of natural “pathways”
along which water could flow upwards.

As a result water could carry a toxic cocktail of chemicals used
in fracking up to freshwater aquifers nearer the surface.

Combined with a number of artificial pathways created by fracking
boreholes, polluted water would have devastating consequences for farmers, he
said.

Fracking involves pumping a mixture of water, sand and chemicals
at high pressure down a borehole into the rock strata containing the shale gas.
The process releases the gas, which flows out of the borehole to the surface,
where it is captured.

On Thursday, Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said concerns about
fracking, to extract shale gas reserves, needed to be overcome through research
and technology.

“We cannot allow a blessing to lie fallow… If shale gas is one
of the blessings, we are going to go for it,” Peters said.

It was essential, however, that the process was not rushed. The
technology involved in fracking was established in other countries, such as
Australia and the United States, and similar to that used in processing gold.
She said means of extracting the shale gas safely would benefit the Karoo’s
inhabitants.