Mozambique’s Minister of Minining Resources, Esperança Bias, Thursday in Maputo signed two new mining contracts for coal mining in Tete province, in central Mozambique, according to news agency AIM.

The agreements were signed with Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) of Kazakhstan and ETA Star of the United Arab Emirates.

The ENRC project is located in the district of Cahora Bassa and the concession covers an area of 23,760 hectares, where US$180 million were invested in prospecting and over US$800 million is expected to be spent to mine the coal deposits.

The company expects to mine 25 million tons of coal per year for 25 years.

The representative of ENRC in Mozambique, José Dai said that the project involves production of liquid fuels from coal and generating 120 megawatts of electricity to be sold in Mozambique and possibly to Zambia.

ETA Star, in turn, will explore a mine in Moatize district, in an area of ​​4,000 hectares, located approximately 40 kilometres from the city of Tete.

The company plans eventually to mine four million tons of high quality thermal coal per year which, at a later stage, is expected to rise 7.5 million tons, although its method of transport to the port of Beira is under consideration.

The Mozambican subsidiary of ENRC is 90 percent controlled by the parent company with the remaining 10 percent reserved for Mozambicans, while ETA STAR is 75 percent owned by the parent company and 20 percent by the Mozambican state, with the remaining 5 percent reserved for sale to Mozambican nationals. (macauhub/MZ)