Mozambican suspends granting of coal mining licenses in Tete Province

Saturday, 01 Oct 2011

The Mozambican government has decided to suspend the issue of new licenses for coal mining in Tete province.

Mr Afonso Abica inspector of the Mining Resources Ministry said that the suspension, which includes prospecting and surveying licenses, mining certificates and mining concessions aims to assess to what extent companies that already hold licenses are complying with the contracts signed with the government.

On the sidelines of a seminar on reviewing the Mining Law, Mr Mabica said that the decision to suspend the issuing of new mining licenses was only related to coal mining in Tete province and that other mining activities would not be affected.

The inspector also said that companies who were not complying with what had been stipulated in their contracts would be penalised and, in extreme cases, could have their licenses revoked.

He said “By revoking the mining licenses we want areas that are currently occupied without being explored can be handed over to other people who are interested and available to work on them.”

Over the last two years the government has granted over 112 licenses to 45 national and foreign companies linked to coal mining in Tete province, which is thought to have the largest coal reserves in the world.

It is estimated that within five years over 100 million tonnes of coal per year will be mined from the Zambezi coal basin, making Mozambique one of the world’s largest coal exporters. However, despite the huge potential, few companies are moving to develop their concessions.

(Sourced from macauhub)