Uranium Resources declares 3.6Mt resource at Tanzania play

Πηγή: Mining Weekly
By: Natalie Greve
May 6 2013

JOHANNESBURG – Aim-listed uranium explorer Uranium Resources has completed a maiden Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum- (CIM-) compliant mineral estimate for its 100%-owned Mtonya play, in Tanzania, indicating an inferred resource of 3.6-million tonnes.

The current resource consisted predominantly of tier 1 mineralisation over 4.5 km of the 36-km-long Mtonya reduction oxidation corridor, which included the untested Nyoka and Lukimwa uranium targets.

The Tanzania-focused company said in a statement on Friday that the resource potentially included both openpittable material, as well as uranium mineralisation below the water table, which could be amenable to in-situ recovery (ISR).

Estimates at a range of cutoff grades confirmed that there was a substantial and robust component to the resource base for increasing the cut-off grade from 50 parts per million (ppm) yellowcake (U3O8) to 100 ppm U3O8.

Uranium Resources MD Alex Gostevskikh said the maiden mineral resource for Mtonya was “encouraging”.

“In particular, we are impressed with the robust continuity of the mineralised strata and preliminary mineralogy analyses on core samples.

“This initial mineral resource estimate at Mtonya is a major milestone and signifies several crucial things – the potential of the Luwegu basin for ISR uranium mineralisation, the ability of our team to generate credible exploration models and, most importantly, to bring these models to life,” he commented.

Uranium Resources would now conduct infill and step-out drilling programmes to further expand the Mtonya resource and execute a series of pump tests on the Mtonya mineralisation.

These exploration efforts would focus on uranium resources amenable to ISR, which it considered the most cost-effective and environmentally acceptable method of uranium extraction.

Saudis arrested over blast at Tanzania church

The deadly attack on the church is one of the first such incidents to hit Tanzania 

Πηγή: ALJazeera
May 6 2013

Tanzanian authorities have arrested six people, including four from Saudi Arabia, in connection with an attack that killed two people and injured 30 others during a mass at a church, officials say.

Jakaya Kikwete, the Tanzanian president, called Sunday's blast, which happened in the northern town of Arusha, an "act of terrorism".

"This is an act of terrorism perpetrated by a cruel person or group who are enemies of the country," Kikwete said in a statement on Monday.

The attack on the church is one of the first such incidents to hit Tanzania.

Officials gave no indication as to who might have carried out the attack, but tensions have been high between Tanzania's Christian and Muslim communities in recent months.

Magesa Mulongo, Arusha's commissioner, confirmed six people had been arrested, two from Tanzania and four from Saudi Arabia.

"Investigations are ongoing," Mulongo said, adding that the four Saudis had arrived at Arusha airport on Saturday.

The two Tanzanians arrested were Christian, he added, but gave no further details.

The blast occurred outside Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic church in Arusha, a town popular with tourists visiting the popular Serengeti National Park and snowcapped Mount Kilimanjaro.

First ever mass

The newly built church, in the Olasti district on the outskirts of Arusha, was celebrating its first ever mass when the blast occurred. People were squeezed into the church building as well as sitting on benches outside.

Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla, the Vatican's ambassador to Tanzania, was attending mass at the church but was not harmed, officials said.

Kikwete, who said he was "shocked and deeply saddened" by the reports of the explosion, called on people to remain calm while police investigated the attacks.

"We are ready to deal with all criminals including terrorists and their agents who are based in the country or externally," he said.

After the attack, worshippers accused the police and the government of failing to properly protect them.

'Community of Islam'

In February, a Catholic priest was shot dead outside his church on the largely Muslim archipelago of Zanzibar, the second such killing in recent months. A church was also set on fire on the island in February.

In March, 52 followers of controversial Muslim cleric Sheikh Ponda Issa Ponda were jailed for a year for violent riots in October in Zanzibar's commercial capital of Dar es Salaam, sparked by rumours that a 12-year-old boy at a Christian school had urinated on a copy of the Quran.

Ponda is the head of Jumuiya ya wa Islamu, or the "community of Islam", a group not recognised by the Tanzanian government.

Last month, in the far south of Tanzania, police fired tear gas to disperse about 200 Christian rioters attempting to torch a mosque over an argument over who should be allowed to slaughter animals.

About half of Tanzanians are believed to be Christian, and around a third of the population to be Muslim, although there are no official figures.

In neighbouring Kenya - whose troops invaded southern Somalia in 2011, prompting warnings of revenge by al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab fighters - several churches have been targeted in attacks similar to the Arusha blast.

The Top 5 Oil & Gas Plays for 2012

Πηγή: OilPrice
By Jen Alic
Dec 12 2012

2012 has been a stellar year for oil and gas. From East Africa to North America, new technology, major new discoveries, an unparalleled appetite for exploration and a metamorphosing perception of risk have changed the playing field.

We’re looking at potential rather than existing production, and here are our Top 5 picks for this year:

Turkana County, Kenya

We have to start with Kenya, the biggest success story of the year.

In March, the UK’s Tullow Oil and Canada’s Africa Oil Corp. discovered 100 meters of oil in the Ngamia-1 well. The euphoria was in part because this discovery was made on the very first try in the very first well. Stocks shot up to record highs as a result.

The euphoria has not abated. In late November, the same duo made another find of 30 meters of oil in the nearby Twiga-1 well.

September also saw Kenya strike 53 meters of natural gas in its first-ever offshore find in the Mbawa-1 well, off the coast of Malindi. US-based Apache Corp. owns 50% the well in a consortium with a handful of other companies. They’re still digging, hoping that going deeper will reveal the oil.

The bigger picture, however, is that only the surface has been scratched in terms of exploration. The East Africa Rift is believed to hold over 70 billion barrels of untapped crude oil, while offshore Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique have a joint estimated 250 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. There may be offshore oil, too. The oil discoveries in Kenya so far have been confined to one massive basin, and there are six more.

In addition to the size of the prize here, Kenya is favorable for other reasons as well: It offers relative political stability in the midst of a rather restless Africa; it offers attractive fiscal terms; it offers easy access to export markets; and it has an appetite for infrastructure that is hard to beat.

While 2013 may see some changes in the regulatory environment that could be less favorable, as for 2012, Kenya remains THE number one East African play in terms of potential. Next year will give us a better idea of commercial viability.

Bakken, North Dakota

The Bakken shale play has placed North Dakota ahead of Alaska, making it the number two oil producer in the US for 2012, after Texas. Because of Bakken, the US has increased oil production this year to a level it hasn’t seen in almost a decade and a half. In one month alone this year, North Dakota issued 370 drilling permits.

Stretching from Eastern Montana to Western North Dakota and across parts of Saskatchewa and Manitoba in the Williston Basin, the Bakken Shale Play could yield some 4.3 billion barrels of oil, according to the US Geological Survey. That’s the modest estimate. Continental Resources—one of the major Bakken players—estimates as much as 40 billion barrels.

The clincher is that much of the vast Bakken Petroleum System has not even been tapped. So far, drilling has primarily targeted the Middle Bakken and the upper Three Forks Zones. The Three Forks Zones have not been fully tapped, and the Upper Bakken Shale hasn’t really been tapped at all.

Eagle Ford, South Texas

Eagle Ford is potentially the next Bakken. It’s one of the most ACTIVE plays in the US right now. And what the majors and juniors are playing with is 7,500 in total acreage, five producing wells, two more wells being drilled, and the potential for 100 wells. This year, oil production has increased to some 300,000 bpd (as of August).

Natural gas is also a major Eagle Ford offering. Last year, it produced 914 million cubic feet of natural gas, though that has dropped slightly for this year.

So far, drilling seems to have had even better results than in Bakken. And there is a great deal of confidence and optimism. Enough so that Marathon Oil is planning to shift its primary focus from Bakken to Eagle Ford and spend one-third of its operating budget there. Right now Marathon is producing around 40,000 net barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day and plans to more than double this next year. It’s already doubled production this year (and, incidentally, seen its profits jump 11% in the first quarter).

The biggest producer is EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG), putting out about 110,000 boe/day and holding reserves of around 1.6 billion boe.

Analysts think Eagle Ford could end up out-producing the Permian Basin in west Texas—and soon.

Mediterranean Plays

The Levant Basin in the Mediterranean has an estimated 122 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, and around 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil. And the area has seen a flurry of activity recently.

Between 25 and 33 billion cubic feet of this gas is in Israeli waters. The rest is carved up between Greek-held Northern Cyprus (which is a bit problematic), Syria and Lebanon.

Of course, along with this potential comes some uncomfortable geopolitics; on one hand among Israel, Lebanon and Syria; on the other hand between Israel, Turkey and the Greek Cypriots.

The first new natural gas field in the region is expected to begin full-scale production this year, with two additional fields coming on-line over the next six years.

Specifically, we’re talking about:

• The discovery to two offshore natural gas fields in northern Israel (Leviathan and Tamar) with an estimated 25 trillion cubic feet (about 100 years year of gas for Israeli domestic use)
• Estimates that Israel has a potential 1.9 billion barrels of untapped oil
• About 5-6 tcf of natural gas in the Aphrodite field claimed by Greek-held Northern Cyprus (just west of Israel’s Leviathan field)

Exploitation will be a bit expensive, though. Israel’s offshore fields are located 100 kilometers from the coast and in 6,000 feet of water. The natural gas is some 5,000 feet under the sea bed.

Offshore Tanzania & Mozambique
Tanzania has become a gas sensation in a very short time, with recent offshore discoveries of some 33 trillion cubic feet.

Sweetening the deal, we have political stability and low security risk, relatively speaking, as well as an existing 70-million-cubic-feet/day capacity for natural gas processing. More gas infrastructure is in the works.

Next door, Mozambique’s 130 trillion cubic feet of gas in its offshore Rovuma Basin is eye candy for foreign investors, and officials believe there is double this amount still waiting to be discovered. It’s not as attractive as Tanzania for one reason: There is no infrastructure.