adminMozambique is still counting on increasing coal exports to expand its infrastructure and to drive economic growth, despite depressed global prices, which might delay the timing of some major railway and port projects.
Business Report says according to Transport Minister Gabriel Muthisse, the government was also keen to attract investors to help build the infrastructure needed to exploit huge offshore natural gas reserves in the north. Coal producers in Mozambique might face a ‘‘strategic wait’’ before their export operations became fully profitable, but the government was committed to developing the coal industry as a growth driver.
Global mining giant Rio Tinto has announced a deal to sell its coal mine and linked projects in Mozambique for $50m, after writing down their value by $3bn last year, reports Business Day.
‘‘Rio Tinto has reached an agreement to sell Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique, which comprises the Benga coal mine and other projects in the Tete province of Mozambique,’’ the company said.
The announcement came just two years after the Anglo-Australian company exported its first coal from the Southern African country.
A consortium of Indian state-run companies — International Coal Ventures — would take over the mines, and the deal would be finalised in the third quarter of this year, the report says. — Business Report.
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