Maputo — The tantalum mine at Marropino in the central...

Maputo — The tantalum mine at Marropino in the central Mozambican province of Zambezia has closed, due to increased costs of mining, according to a source in the Ministry of Mineral Resources, cited in Friday's issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”.

The mine was operated by Highland African Mining Company, which is 100 per cent owned by the Noventa Group, headquartered in the British tax haven of Jersey.

Mining resumed at Marropino in 2004, but Noventa always faced difficulties in exporting its main product, tantalum concentrate, because this is a radioactive mineral, and because of the logistical constraints posed by poor access roads.

Prior to its closure the mine employed 377 workers, whom the company has been making redundant since March.

The Ministry source told “Noticias” that the main reason for closing the mine was that the tantalum deposit was becoming exhausted. The rocks with the highest tantalum content have already been mined, and the remaining tantalum-bearing rocks are harder to mine and are at a great depth.

These factors have increased the costs of mining and processing, and the amount of tantalum being extracted is now below that envisaged in the Marropino economic viability study.

Tantalum production fell from 40,465 kilos in 2010, to 37,865 kilos in 2011, and to 24,109 kilos in 2012. The company is now making a heavy loss - it reported financial losses of about 150 million dollars up to June 2013.

The situation was worsened by an unreliable electricity supply. In 2012, power cuts led to a loss of 2,085 hours, adding greatly to production costs, and damaging sensitive electronic equipment.

Furthermore, no Mozambican port is certified to handle radioactive or “Class Seven” goods, and so the Marropino exports were sent on a lengthy journey, often on poor roads, to the port of Walvis Bay, in Namibia.

Noventa has thus decided to halt production at Marropino, and switch its efforts to two other areas in Zambezia, Morrua and Mutala. According to the Ministry, in these two areas the tantalum deposits are nearer the surface, and there is a higher percentage of tantalum in the ore.

The Ministry has instructed the company to employ some of the workers from Marropino at Morrua and Mutala.

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