Danakali reports that the Colluli Mining Share Company (CMSC) has appointed RA International Group as its preferred contractor for the supply of accommodation, support services and other infrastructure buildings in support of the Colluli sulphate of potash project development, in Eritrea.

RA, listed on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM board, specialises in building, operating and maintaining facilities in remote and challenging conditions across Africa, providing complex humanitarian, governmental, mining, and other commercial developments and services, Danakali says.

Colluli has a JORC-2012 compliant measured, indicated and inferred resource of 1,289 Mt at 11% K20 equivalent and 7% kieserite. Development is already underway with expected production in 2022.

As part of the agreement with CMSC, owned 50:50 by Danakali and the Eritrean National Mining Corporation, RA will supply, deliver and install a mine accommodation camp as well as a plant administration and service facilities for the Colluli mine site. Additionally, it will provide comprehensive camp services incorporating catering, cleaning, laundry, pest and vector control, grounds keeping and waste management.

The plant administration and services facilities will incorporate administration offices, medical clinic, warehouses, and workshops (see graphic above, credit: RA International). The accommodation camp, meanwhile, has been designed to accommodate 600 personnel during the production phase with the flexibility to accommodate 1,115 during the construction phase. The 600 person camp capacity is exclusive of camp services personnel, which will have an additional camp, provided by RA, located within the overall camp boundary.

Niels Wage, CEO of Danakali, said: “I am pleased to announce the appointment of RA International as our preferred accommodation and support services contractor. They have significant experience in executing projects of the scale and quality required for the Colluli project. We are confident in RA International’s capabilities to deliver a high-quality product and service.”

Soraya Narfeldt, CEO of RA International, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen as the preferred contractor to work with Danakali and its partners on this project which we see as globally significant.

“The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has indicated Colluli has the potential to significantly boost the Eritrean economy and have a substantial positive impact on the Sustainable Development Agenda of Eritrea. The appointment of RA International is testament to sound execution of our growth strategy, highlighting continued new business momentum with another significant award in the mining sector.”