Aviva gets green light, but is stopped in its tracks

摘要

On the surface Aviva Corporation Ltd will step closer to being a producer when the Botswana Government grants environmental approval for its Mmamantswe coal project, 70km north of Gabarone.But in reality the graduation from explorer to producer remains a mighty step away, a situation Aviva chief executive Lindsay Reed is well aware of."We are basically at the point where when asked if we are ready to make a decision to mine we can say 'yes' but is there a railway line in place - no," Reed said."We have spent $10 million at Mmamantswe and we have done studies in the past connecting railway lines, water pipelines, so we roughly know what it is going to cost. Clearly Mmamantswe doesn't support a railway line out to the coast through the east or west (Namibia and Mozambique respectively for export). We have to look athow Mmamantswe can work together (with other projects) and how it can work for the whole sector and we're a bit player in getting that value out there," Reed said.