Indian state owned mining giant, Coal India (CIL), will commence the mining of coal in central Mozambique’s Tete province. This will begin after the prospecting phase has been completed.

“The final phase of exploration for Coal India’s A1 and A2 mining blocks at Tete Province in Mozambquie is complete. Coal sampling is in progress. Geological report and detailed project report will be prepared. We hope to start mining within six months to a year,” said a
senior official of Coal India.

CIL recently floated a local venture, Coal India Africana, in Mozambique after it acquired coal blocks in the African nation’s north western Tete province. It won a five-year licence for exploration and development of two blocks in August 2009.

Huge new coalfields were discovered in recent years have been described by some mining officials as one of the largest coal finds across the world.

Mozambique exported its first batch of coal in 2011. So far it has spent about $50 billion in infrastructure projects to access its coal reserves and is poised to become the world’s largest coal exporter..

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), coal and natural gas production could potentially boost Mozambique’s economic growth rate by 2 percent over the next decade.

By George Mpofu