The company selected by public tender to re-launch marble quarrying in Montepuez, in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, is this month expected to present the project’s development plan to the government, a spokesman said.

Ramiro Nguiraze, Cabo Delgado’s provincial director for Mining Resources and Energy, told Mozambican newspaper Notícias that the proposal would contain technical details that the company will use to re-open what is one of the most important extractive industries in Cabo Delgado.

Declining to name the company, Nguizare gave assurances that the government would make its final decision to award the Montepuez marble contract or not based on the technical proposal.

Montepuez district is rich in marble and, as well as the area that was operated by Portuguese group Visabeira, another marble deposit was recently discovered with estimated reserves of 18 million cubic metres.

Launched by the Mining Resources Ministry, the tender is to select the best proposal for development of the marble quarry located in Montepuez district, including developing facilities associated to the integrated marble project launched in 1990 with the financial and technical support of the Italian government.

The marble processing factory in Pemba, better known as Marmonte, was inaugurated in July 1993, as part of the Montepuez integrated marble project, initially in the hands of Italian company TecnoStone (http://www.tecnostone.com/), and later handed over to Portuguese group Visabeira. (macauhub)