Under the agreement, signed with IFC InfraVentures and Aldwych International, the company will develop the hydro project in an area around 10km from Hummingbird’s 4.2Moz Dugbe 1 Gold Project.
In addition to significantly contributing to the domestic power supply in southeast Liberia, the project will provide considerable potential to reduce Dugbe 1’s operating costs through the delivery of low-cost power.
Knight Piésold Consulting (Vancouver) will carry out a pre-feasibility study on the project in order to assess the technical and economic viability the project, with work to be conducted in two phases.
Phase 1 will involve the preliminary engineering, draft PFS report and installation of stream gauge and flow monitoring equipment, while Phase 2 will comprise one year of flow rate recording, stream gauge maintenance, hydrological analysis and the final PFS report.
Hummingbird Resources CEO Dan Betts said: "This collaboration represents an extremely exciting opportunity for Hummingbird, working together with two highly regarded partners, IFC InfraVentures and Aldwych International, to develop a sustainable source of power for Dugbe 1 and to secure the future domestic power supply for the southeast Liberian region and in particular the town of Greenville.
"With the HEP PFS fully funded by IFC InfraVentures, we believe, if successful, this hydroelectric scheme will create a catalyst for growth of the region and provide a significant potential opex-saving opportunity for Dugbe 1."
