Mining Intelligence and News
Mozambique

Moatize Mine

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Summary

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Coal (metallurgical)
  • Coal (thermal)
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotMoatize is the Mozambique's largest coal mining operation, contributing approximately 40% of Mozambique's coal output. Located in Tete province, a key coal-producing region, the operation is critical to Mozambique's position as a coal exporter on the global stage.

The coal operation has an integrated logistics chain that includes rail and port through Nacala Logistics, a rail-port company, responsible for managing the Nacala-à-Velha Multipurpose Port Terminal and the 1,600 km of the railway system.

On April 25, 2022, the Brazilian mining giant Vale concluded the sale of its Mozambican coal production assets (the Moatize coal mine and the Nacala Logistical Corridor) to Vulcan Minerals. The new owner has not published any production data since acquiring the assets.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Empresa Mocambicana de Exploracao Mineira, S.A 5 % Indirect
Vulcan International 95 % Indirect
Vulcan Mozambique SA (operator) 100 % Direct
Vulcan Mozambique SA is the company responsible for operating the Moatize Coal Mine, a fully-owned subsidiary of Vulcan International.

The Brazilian mining giant Vale on April 25, 2022 concluded the sale of its Mozambican coal production assets (the Moatize coal mine and the Nacala Logistical Corridor) to Vulcan Minerals is a private company. Vale had an indirect 95% stake and the remaining stake is owned by Empresa Moçambicana de Exploração Mineira, S.A.

Deposit type

  • Sedimentary

Summary:

The Matinde formation is the uppermost Karoo formation in the Tete/Moatize area and is comprised of a uniform series of coarse, highly compact cross bedded sandstones with locally developed conglomerates. Thin high ash coal and carbonaceous shales occur intermittently throughout the Matinde formation, but are not of economical value.

In the Moatize-Minjova basin, economically significant coal seams are present at intervals over a total stratigraphic thickness of 317 m within the Serie Produtiva only. It consists of a sequence of shales, mudstones and siltstones, intercalated with coal seams and carbonaceous shales. The sediments were deposited in a deltaic environment under stable conditions and slow subsidence. Coal is contained in six multi-seam coal bearing zones known stratigraphically from the youngest to the oldest as:
- Andre (± 1.5 m).
- Grand Falesia (± 11 m).
- Intermedia (± 9 m).
- Bananeiras (± 40 m).
- Chipanga (± 35 m).
- Souza Pinto (± 13 m).

Seams consist of bright coal, mainly vitrinite, alternating with dull detrital coal, carbonaceous shale and shale. The shale to coal ratio in the Chipanga seam is in the order of 60/40.

The Chipanga Seam is economically the most important of the coal seams, as it is thicker and laterally more extensive and therefore has the largest reserves.

The Moatize-Minjova Coal basin is a NW-SE trending graben, 20 km long and 7 km wide, associated with the Zambezi Valley distension zone. The graben is bounded by normal faults with throws of between 500 m and 800 m, which are marked by thick fault breccias.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Milling equipment has not been reported.

Processing

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Commodity Production

In the last three years alone, Vulcan has mined more than 35 million tons of coal a year at Moatize, having taken over the operation in April 2022 from Brazil's Vale.
CommodityUnits2021202020192018201720162015
Coal (metallurgical) kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe4,0326,1616,9533,4803,401
Coal (thermal) kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe4,7385,4444,3072,0121,560
All production numbers are expressed as clean coal.

Operational metrics

Metrics20242023
Coal tonnes mined
Hourly processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Annual processing capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe

Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
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Workforce

Aerial view:

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