In 2003 Mozambique had estimated production of 36 742 t in 2003 compared to 43 512 t in 2002. Mozambique has substantial coal deposits situated in the Moatize and Mucanha – Vuzi coal basins in the Tete province. The basin contains seven coal seams and has reserves estimated at 750 Mt. The Mucanha – Vuzi basin is said to contain as much as 3 600 Mt coal reserves, although the basin is severely block faulted. Coal production from Moatize reached a peak in the early 1980’s at 500 000t per year, but supply has declined. Mozambique has recently announced plans to export 2Mt of coal to Nigeria annually. JCI Projects has carried out studies involving the production of 3.2 Mt/year of hard coking coal over a 17 year period. The Matola coal terminal in Maputo edxports South African coal.
In November 2004 the government of Mozambique declared Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) the winner of the international bidding process to explore coal deposits in the Moatize region, north of Mozambique. CVRD has a 95% stake in the project while AIMC owns the remaining 5%. The CVRD/AMCI consortium bid US$ 122.8 million for the concession. The feasibility study is scheduled to start in January 2005 and is estimated to take about twenty-four months to be concluded. Total investment is estimated at US$ 1 billion and includes concession payment, mine development, construction of a maritime terminal for ship loading and social investments. There is a railroad linking the Moatize region to ports in the coast of Mozambique, Nacala and Beira, which is operated, under government concession, by Indian companies.
