Mozambique Coal Mining Industry: Chinese-Mozambican consortium set up for coal mining in Changara district, Tete

A consortium that is 80 percent controlled by Chinese company Kingho Investment is due to begin economic viability studies for coal mining in the Changara district in Mozambique’s Tete province, officials said in Maputo.

According to the Mozambican press the announcement was made during a session to launch the consortium, which includes Kingho Investment, a subsidiary of the Beijing-based China Kingho Energy Group, Empresa de Exploração Mineira (EMEM), which is majority-owned by the Mozambican state and Monte Binga, 100 percent owned by the Mozambican Ministry of Defence.

The two Mozambican companies each have a 10 percent stake in the consortium.

Mozambique’s Mining Resources Minister, Esperança Bias, said that the consortium could have a 25-year concession on the mine if the results of the surveys are positive.

Bias added that Kingho Investment had been carrying out exploratory work in the concession area since 2010, in partnership with the Mozambican National Geology Office.

Tete province is rich in coal and several foreign groups, including Brazil’s Vale and Anglo-Australian company Rio Tinto, are involved in mining or surveying there. (macauhub/MZ)