Maputo ? The Australian mining company Mozambi Coal has since May been prospecting for coal in two concessions in Tete province in the west of Mozambique.
According to the company's director, Shiv Madan, quoted by the Macau-based agency Macauhub, Mozambi Coal will extract coking and thermal coal in its concessions known as Tete West and Muturara.
Tete West is thought to have reserves of up to 270 million tonnes, whilst Muturara may have up to 3.6 billion tonnes of coal.
Prospecting is being carried out by Aquaterra, the Mozambican subsidiary of the South African company Geosearch Inc, which is scheduled to finish its work by the end of August.
The Mozambican government has already awarded over 100 coal exploration licences, mostly in Tete province where there are huge proven reserves.
In Mozambique seven coal basins have already been identified with great potential in the provinces of Niassa, Cabo Delgado, Tete and Manica.
Over recent years the country has registered massive interest from international mining companies which could turn Mozambique into one of the world's largest coal producers and exporters.
According to the Minister of Mineral Resources, Esperanca Bias, negotiations are underway for the awarding of new concessions in Revubue and Moatize. Bias stated that by the end of this year five new coal mining concessions could be awarded.
The minister told participants of an international conference on coal that took place in Maputo that the government continues to receive numerous requests for coal exploration licences, especially from investors from India and China.
However, new applications from India would be carefully scrutinised. In January the government decided not to award any further licences to Coal India (CIL) until it had taken more steps to exploit the two concessions it already holds.
Meanwhile, the mines at Moatize and Benga in Tete province belonging to the Brazilian giant mining company Vale and the Australian company Riversdale, are in an advanced phase, and are expected to begin exporting coal in the coming months.
The two projects might also use coal in proposed thermal power plants, eventually producing up to 2,000 megawatts at Benga and 2,600 megawatts at Moatize.
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