Obtala Resources, a company based in Guernsey, will apply the US$900,000 received from its investor Basic Materials Ltd in the expansion of forest operations in Mozambique, the company recently announced.

The Obtala of operations in Mozambique are located primarily in the central province of Zambezia and take place under a concession contract that strictly stipulates the number of trees that can be cut and requires that the resulting wood is processed in the country.

Last February the company announced it had signed three agreements with three international sector investors to raise US$3 million to fund activities in Mozambique in exchange for an equity stake in, and rights to a particular forest area.

The three investors are Global Timber Investment Limited, a company based in Hong Kong that will invest US$900,000, George Miller, a US private investor, investing US$1.16 million and Basic Materials Limited, a company with offices in Hong Kong and Russia (US$900,000).

The latter was the first to pay the agreed amount, which will be applied in the construction of two furnaces for wood drying and installation of a new sales and distribution centre in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. (macauhub/MZ)