Mozambique, Malawi sign railway deal to transport coal

Mozambique, Malawi sign railway deal to transport coal

Mozambique, Malawi and the Brazilian mining company Vale have signed a memorandum of understanding on the construction of a new railway across southern Malawi to take Vale’s coal from its mining concession in Mozambique’s Moatize coal basin (west) to the northern port of Nacala, state-controlled Radio Mozambique reports on Tuesday.

The broadcaster said the railway is necessary because the existing Sena line, from Moatize to the central port of Beira, will be unable to handle the vast amount of coal exports planned by Vale and the other mining companies exploiting the Moatize coal basin.

Radio Mozambique said the new railway will cost about US$2 billion and did not specify who will fund it. The deal was signed in the Malawian capital Lilongwe on Monday.

The total distance from Moatize to Nacala is about 900 kilometres and not all the line will be entirely new, since after passing through Malawi it will join the existing northern railway to Nacala.

Vale intends to start its coal exports from Moatize in the second half of this year, using the Sena line, and the new coal terminal now under construction in Beira.

Mozambique’s Ports and Railways Company (CFM) has threatened to cancel a contract with India’s Rites and Ircon (RICON) if it cannot complete soon a vital coal transport line that links a major coal field to the port of Beira.

Vale and Australia’s Riverdale have invested heavily to mine Mozambique’s estimated 23 billion tonnes of coal, planning to use the Sena Line for transport in the country with some of the world’s largest untapped coal reserves.

Source 

Brasilian Rio Doce Mozambique - RDMZ - 2007 Conceptual engineering for a ~80MW low grade fired coal power plant to supply electrical power to the Moatize coal mining complex in Mozambique. RFP to contract an IPP to develop the project and to sell the power to the RDMZ complex. Draft of the PPA with all legal, technical and operational features of the supply.

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