In the second quarter of 2012 the mine produced 728,000 tonnes of coking (or metallurgical) coal and 390,000 tonnes of thermal coal. However, this dropped to 624,000 tonnes of coking coal and 365,000 tonnes of thermal coal in the third quarter.
The proportion of thermal coal rose because coking coal cannot be stored for a long time once mined.
Vale states that “capacity at the Sena railway line (from Moatize to the port of Beira) is expected to be expanded in the fourth quarter of 2012, as the enhancement in track signalling is completed, allowing for faster train speeds and the transportation of larger volumes of metallurgical coal production by the end of the year”.
Vale plans to build up production at Moatize to reach 11 million tonnes per year in the first phase. In the second phase, which is due to begin in 2014, it intends to ramp up production to 22 million tonnes per year.
But the Sena line will have nowhere near the capacity to cope with Vale’s production, let alone the coal produced by other companies in the Moatize coal basin. Independent experts believe that over the next decade coal exports from the basin by several companies will reach 100 million tonnes per year, making Mozambique one of the world’s largest coal exporters.
Other options for transporting the coal are being investigated. Vale intends to build a new railway across southern Malawi and develop a new coal terminal at Nacala-a-Velha, adjacent to the existing deep water port in Nacala.
A second mining company, Rio Tinto, also has plans for a new railway, this time entirely within Mozambican territory, which would run from Moatize to a new port on the coast of Zambezia province.
Post published in: Africa News