Rapidlink Group of Companies is a holding company incorporated under the Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We are an indigenous, 100% Nigerian owned company with interests in Energy; Maritime; Oil & Gas; Solid Minerals Prospecting, Mining Exploration and Consultancy Services. The company has offices and operational bases in Lagos, Nigeria’s foremost business and industrial city, Apapa, Warri, Port Harcourt, Eket and Calabar – important seaports and oil cities in Nigeria; Pointe Noire and Brazzaville in Republic of Congo; Accra and Tema in Ghana. We offer cost effective services adapted to specific needs of our clients.
The group is made up of:
Rapidlink Resources Limited
Rapidlink (Oil & Gas) Limited
Rapidlink Properties Limited
Immobiliare Construction Limited
Global Telecom Solutions.
In this exclusive interview with The Rock Post, Engr. Enema Samson, Deputy Managing Director. He responded crisply to our flurry of questions. Excerpts:
Q. Do you have kind of project audit/verification by another independent party?
R. Yes we do. All our independent audit is done by Michael Cronwright who is with CSA global. He acts as our technical adviser and oversight on this project.
Q. Take us through the project anticipated deliverable:
R. The contract is for exploration and generation of geoscience information on the nature and quantum mineralization of Rare Metals/Minerals – Cassiterite (Sn), Tantalite (Ta), Niobium (Nb), Lithium (Li), etc, for investment decision. The program will run through the process of exploration down to drilling and resource quantification using cutting edge technology and approach. The procedures are being carried out according to international best practices and reporting made according to internationally recognized reporting codes: JORC(ASX), SAMREC(JSE), NI43-101(TSX).
Q. What are some of the challenges confronting your company in the course of this project?
R. Security – there are areas that we cannot explore because of the security situations.
Laboratory Facility – There is no operational analytical laboratory in Nigeria and even in the whole West Africa that does analysis for Tin, Lithium, Tantalum and Niobium. There is only one Prep lab facility in Abuja that can prep samples and ship the prepped samples to Canada for analysis.
Lack of Exploration Logistics in the country – Most of the instruments and equipment for our exploration work are imported from abroad.
Funds/Budget? – delays in payment of contractors is also major challenge.
Funding – Detail exploration activities are expensive. The government need to make huge budgets for these activities to be able to attract the right personnel and get to where countries like Canada, Australia, South Africa, etc are operating at.
Q. What is the anticipated impact of your explored mineral on the Nigeria economy, should it become successful?
R. The short to medium term anticipated impact on the Nigerian economy will be huge foreign investments in the Solid Minerals sub sector with massive wealth creation and huge employments opportunities; not forgetting the triple down effect on small businesses and support sectors. This will ultimately lead to a huge contribution to the country’s GDP in the long run
Q. Tell us about the exploration machineries / equipment’s that you are deploying to achieve this project’s target.
R. Earth moving equipment – Excavators, bull dozers, pick axe and shovels.
Drilling rigs – Core drilling rigs, RC rigs, Auger rigs.
Prep Lab equipment – Crusher, Milling and Pulverization equipment, Sample splitters, Scale balance, Sample drying oven.
Core cutting instrument
Portable XRF, LIBS, Hydraulic Pressing equipment, Core logging instrument
LIBS analyzers
EM Magnetometers
Survey equipment and GPS
Various GIS softwares e.g. ARCgis, Leapfrog etc.
Q. With this being a sort of turnkey project, the government has entrusted so much confidence in you. How confident are you to deliver?
R. We are very confident to deliver on this project and surpass all expectations. We have in our team some of the best sourced authority in pegmatites/Rare Earth Metals. We have also made substantial progress on the project and all projections are looking very good.
Q. How would you rate the performance of Local Geosientists’ embedded in your technical team? Can you justify they have benefitted technically from this project?
R. Local Geologists have played a major role in this project. They are integral part of this project by carrying out most of the field activities.
They have gain enormous experience been part of this exploration program. To most of them, this project was their first and major exploration work. They have learned so many things including international standard operating procedures, quality data capturing and Exploration GIS. Also, part of this program is for local geologists to understudy the CP’s and gain some new skills.
Q. So far, share some of your key findings with us.
R. The exploration programs carried out have identified that all the projects areas are traversed by swarms of pegmatites ranging from few meters to several kilometers in strikes and width of few centimeters to hundreds of meters. These pegmatites are the source of economic Lithium (Li), Niobium (Nb), Tantalum (Ta), Tin (Sn) and gemstone deposits in Nigeria.
Analytical results show that the project areas are highly prospective for either Lithium (Li), Niobium (Nb), Tantalum (Ta) or Tin (Sn) or multiple of them.
Several of the Project areas have been delineated for further exploration work of drilling. This would be carried out in coming weeks to test the depth, width and grade of the mineralization
Q. If this project becomes successful, do you see Nigeria on track to become a world class mining destination?
R. Yes, we do!
Rare Earth Minerals, which we are prospecting for, are minerals for the future. With the world and Global Economy’s focus on renewable energy, the success of this project will mean massive investments in the country to source and mine these minerals that will sustain the future of the world.
Q. Would you confirm that the project timeline is sufficient?
R. Exploration work require a great deal of time to achieve meaningful results. The One Year schedule for this project is worthfully inadequate to complete all the phases.
Q. Any word of advice to the government, going forward.
R. The solid minerals sector in Nigeria is grossly underdeveloped and largely untapped. The country’s over reliance on crude oil has probably led to this neglect. The government should continue to focus on diversifying the economy and deepen investments in the provision of geoscience data to attract foreign investments in the solid minerals sub subsector and by extension the country in general.
Q. What projects of the sector are competent persons associated with in Nigeria / Internationally?
R. Michael has been involved in a number of lithium projects in Africa, including the Manono Lithium Project in the DRC, the Kamativi Lithium Project in Zimbabwe as well as a number of other lithium, tin and tantalum projects in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Namibia and South Africa. The type of work involved includes due diligences, technical support to exploration projects and CP/QP reporting for companies listed on the TSX, ASX and AIM.
George is currently involved in exploration for pegmatite-hosted lithium and rare- metals in Nigeria.
David is well experience in the Nigerian geological terrain having carried out lots of exploration work in pegmatite hosted mineralization of lithium, tin, niobium and tantalum and other commodities before joining Rapidlink Resources as Exploration Project Manager. He has experience in a wide variety of geological terrains and in a number of different countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Russia, Cote D’Ivoire, Togo, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Niger, Senegal and Republic of Congo. I have also been involved in consulting for number of international mining and exploration companies. He has demonstrated proficiency in establishing and maintaining complete databases, covering all aspects of a project, and able to provide ongoing interpretations, NI 43-101 or JORC complaint reporting with conclusions and further recommendations.
Russell has been and still is currently involved with a lithium-bearing pegmatite projects in Nigeria, Namibia and Mozambique.
Q. Itemize for us your operational procedures / stages in the course of this project.
R. The programme involves several main stages broadly involving the following:
- Data acquisition and interpretation, desktop studies and planning
- Geological mapping and sampling (rocks, soils, trenches)
- Sample preparation, analysis, interpretation and drill planning
- Mobilisation and target drilling
- Integration, interpretation and reporting of results
Q. Let’s talk about your technical team, with the significance of the project, what is the internationally recognized certification of your competent person such as JORC etc?
R. Michael is a member of the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP), a fellow of the Geological Society of South Africa. He has lectured to the Exploration Geology, Master of Science course at Rhodes University on the topic of Exploration Geochemistry and most recently Pegmatites. He is qualified as a Competent Person/Qualified Person for pegmatite hosted mineralisation in terms of international reporting codes (JORC, SAMREC, NI43-101).
George is a member in good standing with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP) and the Geological Society of South Africa (GSSA). Previous experience has included reporting of exploration results in accordance with SAMREC (JSE), JORC (ASX) and NI43-101 (TSX) codes. He is currently enrolled as a candidate for the MSc. (Economic Geology) at the University of the Witwatersrand.
David is a member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM). A member of the West African Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (WAIMM) and a member of the Ghana Institute of Geoscientist. He is qualified as a competent Person (CP) for reporting of exploration results in accordance with JORC and NI43-101.
Russell is a member of the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP) as well as a member of the Geological Society of South Africa. Russell has lectured to the Exploration Geology, Master of Science course at Rhodes University on the topic of Exploration Geochemistry. Russell is competent in reporting exploration results in accordance with SAMREC, JORC and NI43-101 (TSX) codes.
Competent Persons
Michael is a geologist with approximately 20 years’ experience in African geology and exploration throughout Africa and parts of the Middle East. He has broad commodity experience in PGMs, chrome, gold, base metals, coal, gold and zirconium. Michael has significant experience in lithium, tin and columbo-tantalite mineralisation, pegmatite and vein hosted mineralisation types.
George van der Walt: Senior Exploration Project Manager – Rapidlink Resources / The MSA Group BSc. (Hons) Geology (Stellenbosch), Pr.Sci.Nat., MGSSA, from South African / British.
George has been involved in exploration project management for 15 years. His experience covers platinum group metals in the northern (Platreef) and eastern limbs of the Bushveld Complex, Karoo uranium and rare earth exploration in South Africa as well as rare-metal and lithium pegmatite exploration in Nigeria. His skills include GIS and geological modelling.
David Kwarteng: Exploration Project Manager – Rapidlink Resources Ltd. B.Sc. (Hons) Geological Engineering, MAusIMM, MGhIG, WAIMM, from Ghanaian.
David has over 18 years of experience as a Geologist in Gold, Iron Ore, Lithium, Niobium (Columbite), Tantalum, Tin, Silver, Lead, Nickel, Cobalt, Zinc, other Base and Rare Earth Metals and Gemstones in a large number of projects ranging from grass-roots and generative projects to advanced delineation projects and open cut mining.
Russell Johnson: Senior Exploration Geologist – Rapidlink Resources Limited / The MSA Group. MSc Economic and Structural Geology, BSc (Hons) Geology, BSc (Geology and Advanced Earth Sciences)
Pr.Sci.Nat. FGSSA, from South African / British.
Russell is a Senior Exploration Geologist at the MSA Group and has experience in structural mapping, greenfields target generation, geochemical survey design and interpretation, target assessment and drill testing through to managing major resource drilling programmes. Russell has worked with hard-rock lithium, tin and columbo-tantalite deposits in multiple settings and has a good understanding of the reporting codes (JORC and SAMREC). Russell has conducted Lithium-Caesium- Tantalum (LCT) type pegmatite exploration in Namibia, Mozambique and Nigeria and has also undertaken multiple petrographic studies of lithium-bearing pegmatite samples from Namibia, DRC and Zimbabwe.
Brief introduction of company MD/CEO and consultant.
Bassel Mourad, Technical Director/CEO, Rapidlink Group of Companies Limited, is an accomplished business executive. Prior to co-founding Rapidlink, he has worked in various managerial positions with Electronic Data Systems (EDS), USA, Norcross Chevron, (USA) and Brifina Limited. Bassel has served in various management positions for sales, marketing, technical management, consulting, and alliance/JV development in Rapidlink with his recent position as CEO/Technical Director of Rapidlink Group. He has worked in different parts of Africa, Asia, USA, and Europe both in the Mining and Oil & Gas sector for the last 20 years. This has helped him build large business networks. He has strong managerial skills and is a team player. He has MSc. University of Liverpool, Operations/Supply Management (O&G); BSc. Devry University, Technical Management/Clark Atlanta University, Mech. Engineering. He has attended various courses United States Institute of Peace, Conflict Analysis Course; Oxford Princeton Programme, Introduction to the Oil Industry; Oxford Princeton Programme, Introduction to the Gas Industry and won various awards.
