On May 8, Vale celebrated the start of mining activities at the Moatize coal project in the province of Tete in Mozambique. This stage comes before the start-up of the processing plant, which is scheduled for July. At the moment, Moatize is our company’s biggest project in the coal sector.
Involving an investment of US$1.658 billion, the mine will have a nominal annual production capacity of 11 million tons of metallurgical and thermal coal. The mine’s output will be transported 600 km along the Sena Railroad to a coal terminal that is being built at the Port of Beira in Sofala province.
Local development
Mine equipment operators have been carrying out pre-operational activities since 2010. The workers, 90% of whom are Mozambicans, have done training programs in both Brazil and Mozambique. More than 7,500 people are involved in the work to implement the project, which began in 2008.
Acting always in partnership with the Mozambican government and local civil society, Vale has so far invested more than US$90 million in projects in the fields of health, agriculture, infrastructure, sports and education, as well as to resettle 1,300 families. These projects include the refurbishment of Tete Provincial Hospital, Moatize Health Center and the Moatize Intermediate Institute of Geology and Mines, the development of local agriculture and the construction of schools and health centers.