RE: RE: I suspect q1 201921 Dec 2018 07:56
Polo results:
GCM Resources Plc ("GCM")
Our investee company GCM has made very significant progress in its pursuit of potential development partners for its integrated coal mine and power project, located in Bangladesh adjacent to the rural township of Phulbari. Working under the previously reported agreement with China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Co. Ltd ("CGGC") in July 2017 CGGC delivered a technical pre-feasibility study for a 2,000MW power plant located at the mine site. Subsequently CGGC and GCM agreed a Contract Framework Agreement and a Joint Development Framework giving CGGC the exclusive right for the engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning of the proposed power plant. Throughout 2018 GCM also had ongoing discussions with Power Constructions Corporation of China Ltd ("PowerChina") which is a state-owned key enterprise of People's Republic of China and a world-leading integrated engineering construction group.
Post the Reporting Period:
In November PowerChina delivered a "Power Plant Prefeasibility Assessment Report" confirming that by utilising the latest highly energy efficient ultra-supercritical power plant design, 6,000MW can be generated from the mine's thermal coal production. This is a large value-adding step for the integrated Phulbari Coal and Power Project as it confirms both the enormous scale of power production and the domestic market off-take for the mine's full thermal coal production, i.e. the locks in the most significant revenue stream needed to support the mine's feasibility.
Also, in November 2018 GCM announced that it had secured a £1.2 million increase to its existing short-term loan facility with Polo Resources Limited. These funds will be used to further progress joint venture arrangements with development partners.
Bangladesh is on a General Election footing with the election scheduled for 30 December 2018 and in the meantime GCM and its development partners are working towards a formal proposal to be discussed with the newly elected Government of Bangladesh in the early part of 2019.