Maputo, Mozambique, 13 Oct – Riverside Moçambique Limitada and its partner Tata Steel Limited have contracted Australian company Sedgman to build an industrial coal handling and preparation unit in Benga, in the Mozambican province of Tete, Mozambican newspaper Notícias reported.

The paper reported Friday that Sedgman would have to present a report outlining the project by the end of 2008 covering the facilities needed for handling coal at an industrial unit with initial capacity of 800 tonnes per hour and later expansion to 3,000 tph.

Riversdale Moçambique and Tata Steel plan to build the first industrial unit in 2009, in order to support their coal projects, with the aim of increasing capacity to 3,000 tph by 2012.

Sedgman is a processing solutions provider for the global mining resources industry and a renowned market leader in the design, construction and operation of industrial coal handling and preparation units.

The chairman of Riversdale Moçambique, Michael O’Keefe, said at the time the deal was signed that his company planned to produce coal at the Benga project by 2010.

Contracting Sedgman is the first big commitment made by Roversdale and Tata Steel, and follows the delivery of a Mining Study to the Mozambican government in August 2008.

The Mining Study outline the development of a coal mine with a capacity of 20 million tonnes per year in Benga, in the district of Moatize, with initial direct investment of over US$800 million. (macauhub)