Could you introduce Maatla Resources to our international audience?

My partners and I acquired the Prospecting license in the Mmamabula coalfields district of Botswana. We developed the greenfield license all the way to BFS and mining license stage, and secured full funding from HMS Bergbau AG, a German-based international trading house that has taken a 51% interest. We are advanced with construction activities and plan to start production in Q1 2026. Our production target is 100,000 t/month of high-quality, low-ash (less than 15%), low-sulfur, low-phosphorous branded coal product. The deposit contains two homogeneous seams, both charrable, meaning they can be converted into char for metallurgical uses. Looking ahead, Maatla has a vested interest in the development of a downstream charring and green energy project, pending EMP approval in the coming months.

The Mmamabula license covers three areas with a total of 90 MTIS (Mineable Tonnes In-Situ) coal. The first is situated close to the Mookane village, located just 20 km from the A1 main road and railway line between Gaborone and Francistown. The second and third are near the Limpopo River in the Tuli Block: area B is near the village of Mpashalala, and area C is close to Dovedale village, 30 km from the Stockport border post.

Could you elaborate on your logistics positioning and the significance of the Mmamabula–Lephalale rail link?

South Africa faces a looming coal shortage as existing producers struggle to remain competitive, creating opportunities for Botswana coal. For the past six years, Maatla has been involved in the Mmamabula–Lephalale rail link, which would connect Botswana’s Mmamabula coalfields with South Africa’s Waterberg basin in Lephalale. We are part of a consortium of freight owners including Botswana coal and other commodity producers as well as a major producer in the Waterberg basin within South Africa.  The consortium has been successful through the RFI stage of the project and await the RFP for the project, which is expected to be released by the end of this year.

Once completed, the line will connect Mmamabula to Richards Bay in South Africa, placing us in an ideal position for long-term exports. 

Could you comment on the main challenges you faced in financing the project?

It has been extremely difficult. The first challenge was securing the mining license. Under Botswana’s legislation, you must show that 25% equity is in place, and it has to be real cash equity. In the mining world there are many financing options, whether it's offtake agreements, mezzanine debt, OEM or contractor funding, but very few parties want to take on the equity risk. Our German partners supported Maatla with the equity and further raised a bond on the market, which they are now using those proceeds to fully finance the mine. Without that support, the project would not have been possible.

There’s been increasing global pressure on coal within the energy transition, with financing houses and development banks tightening restrictions. Do you see a pushback against this trend, particularly in the context of developing economies?

Yes, there has been a mindshift, or more attention paid to the role of reliable power in getting people out of poverty and helping developing economies. It’s absurd to force somebody in Botswana to put up a wind farm if there is no wind in the country but there are over 200 billion tons of coal. I believe it all boils down to a lack of knowledge: Few know that the current CO2 level in the atmosphere is at 0.04%, and that at 0.02%, plant life on earth would actually disappear. Another overlooked aspect is that 98% of carbon can be abated using technology, so coal could become clean. While hydrogen attracts many supporters, few know that the cheapest way to produce hydrogen is actually through coal gasification. 

The other side is local. Our entire project area, including Mookane, Mpashalala, Dibete, and Dovedale, is going to boom, with Jindal building a 600 MW power station, also in the Mmamabula coalfields. Talks of secondary industries and new shopping centers are starting to take shape. This is a region with high unemployment, and Maatla’s project in conjunction with the development of new coal-fired power stations can have a major impact. Maatla alone will employ around 500 people directly, while Jindal is expected to create at least 2,000 jobs.