The road from Luambo to Manono is still yet to be completely rehabilitated. I think it's mostly still dirt road, perhaps earlier sections now have some asphalt but not too sure. Eventually the entire road will be bitumen maybe in a year or two.
You can follow this Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/acgtkatanga/?epa=SEARCH_BOX for updates from ACGT (the company assigned to rehab the road) and also have a look at their previous posts dating back to 2017. The pictures they've uploaded will give you some perspective on the progress of the road.
Currently rehabilitation work has reached the mountain ranges beyond Mitwaba so hopefully by the end of this year Manono will be connected to Mitwaba.
Eventually, the road project* will see Manono connected to Kalemie. I've suspected from the beginning that Kalemie port could be used for crossing the Tanganyika Lake - Kigoma - Dar Es Salaam; as the infrastructure already exists, however the company has suggested Moba.
Interestingly, in one of the 121 mining conferences Nigel verbally mentions trucking to Kalemie (not sure if he meant Moba).
7:10
Nigel had also mentioned to me personally that the road south will be a "fall back position".
Nevertheless, at sometime in the future (sooner the better for all of us who are still supporting the team), if funding and development eventuates, the spodumene concentrates mined from the Roche Dure pegmatite will find a way out to a port, whether it's down south or east. East bound is favoured by the company. Let's just hope it's a very profitable mine considering the transport costs.
Maybe one day, perhaps a few years from now, everyone will look back and have a laugh at why the hell we were all worrying so much with AVZ's transport problem when the roads were clearly being constructed for opening up Manono.
AIMO