British group Savannah Resources and Anglo-Australian group Rio Tinto have set up a partnership for heavy sands exploration in Mozambique, the British group said in a statement Sunday.

Signed by Rio Tinto International Holdings Limited and AME East Africa, a 100 percent-owned subsidiary of the Savannah Resources group, the partnership is intended for the groups to join forces for adjacent concessions both of which in Mutamba, Dongane and Jangamo in Inhambane province, in southern Mozambique, and in Rio Tinto’s deposits in Chilubane, in Gaza province, also in the south.

The statement said Savannah Resources would act as operator and Rio Tinto would guarantee the purchase of the entire production, specifically of minerals such as ilmenite, rutile and zircon.

The partnership brings together the projected production of 65 million tons of the British group with an output of 7 billion to 12 billion tons by Rio Tinto.

“The integration of the Mutamba, Dongane and Jangamo projects makes great sense because it combines three areas which are effectively part of the same mineralogical deposit,” said David Archer, CEO of Savannah Resources. (macauhub/MZ)