Mr Obede Matine assistant national director of mining said that coal mining in the Moatize and Benga concession areas of Brazilian company Vale and Australias Riversdale Mining, is due to begin in the third quarter of the year.
With the launch of mining operations, Mr Matine said, the first exports will begin in the second half of 2011 at the latest. In Riversdales case, the start of mining this year gives it a head start on the schedule initially set out by the company, which set 2011 as the start of activities. The company has said that starting early is due to the need to respond to a number of requests from potential consumers of the coal.
In Benga, the area on which Riversdale has a concession, according to figures established thus far, there are reserves of 4.4 billion tonnes, whilst at Moatize, in the area on which Vale Mozambique has a concession, around 2 billion tonnes are available.
Mr Matine noted that in Moatize three other companies were carrying out economic feasibility studies; ETA Star, Zambeze Energy and ETA Recursos, with known reserves in these areas of 975 million tons of mineral coal. If the studies show exploration to be viable, the three companies may begin operating within three or four years.
(Sourced from www.allafrica.com)
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