The Bad Deal Dossier: Coal India gives up majority of coal concessions in Mozambique

And the story continues. It began with Rio Tinto, but now it is Coal Indian Ltd (CIL) time as The board of directors of the Indian Group decides to dispose of three-quarters of two mining concessions it has in Mozambique, the group said in a statement issued on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The statement said that the group’s management had decided to retain 54 square kilometres of the concession area and containing coal at a depth up to 500 metres and dispose of the remaining 170 square kilometres.

The decision to get rid of most of the concession area was based on a geological analysis report compiled by the Central Mining Planning Institute, a subsidiary owned 100 percent by the CIL group.

Test drilling began in 2012 and in late 2014 the group had 40,000 metres of samples for laboratory analysis, the results of which form the basis of the decision now announced.

The two blocks in Mozambique were granted to Coal India Africana Limitada, a 100-percent subsidiary of the state group.(macauhub/MZ)