Tata To Send Mozambique Coal To Europe

Benga Coalfield Inaugurated

Tata Steel is expected to start sending coal to its Corus operations in Europe from a new $1 billion coalfield in Mozambique by the end of this year.

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Mozambique’s president Armando Emilio Guebuza, who officially inaugurated the Benga coal project in the country’s Tete province on Tuesday.

Tata has a 35 per cent stake in the project, with the remainder held by an Australian company, Riversdale Mining, in which Tata has a 21 per cent stake.

Tata has the right to buy 40 per cent of the mine’s two million tonnes a year initial output, 85% of which is good quality hard coking coal with the remainder low ash thermal coal. Production is expected to rise to almost 8 million tonnes over the next few years. The same level of production is likely to continue for 25 years at least.

African Rainbow To Boost Production At Khumani Iron Ore Mine

African Rainbow Minerals CEO Andre Wilkens said on Tuesday that the company is on track to boost production at its Khumani iron ore mine in South Africa by 2012.

Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba conference in South Africa Mr Wilkens said "We are certainly on track for the first phase and the second phase (expansion) and see full production at the end of the year 2012, from 10 million tonnes per annum to 16 (mtpa),".

ARM has formed a joint venture with Vale to explore for copper in Zambia, and other minerals in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia and Mozambique. Mr Wilkens said that the JV would be also be looking specifically at platinum in Zimbabwe.

Coal India Wins Mozambique Coal Slots

Mozambique has awarded two coal acreages in its Maotize region with an estimated one billion tonne reserves to Coal India Ltd but has yet to nominate the local entity which will partner the Indian state-run firm for prospecting and subsequent mining, the Cabinet was informed earlier this month.

According to government sources, CIL has to form a joint venture with a local partner who will be identified by that country's government for the concessions, identified as A1 and A2. CIL and its local partner will later have to shed 15% equity in the joint venture in favour of the Mozambique government, which cannot be brought down below 10%. Mozambique has also asked CIL to open an office in the national capital Maputo and train manpower.

For Block A1, CIL will make a refundable deposit of $2.1 million and pay $950,000 during the first five years of exploration phase and $15.25 million after five years during the mining phase. For Block A2, CIL will make a refundable deposit of $620,000, $330,000 in the exploration phase and over $5 million after five years.

CIL had won the blocks against nine other bidders. While one bid each from the UK and China were disqualified, there were three bids each from Portugal and Mozambique besides four from India. Block A1 covers an area of 109 sq km and Block A2 115 million. From preliminary studies, CIL reckons about 20% of the deposits to be coking coal and the remaining is expected to be good for using as fuel in power plants.

CIL is aiming to ensure a committed volume of around 20-30 million tonnes of coal from overseas which will be equal to about 50 million tonnes of domestic production. CIL has a cash pile of $6-7 billion. Since it can fund its future domestic expansion from internal accruals, it wants to use part of this reserve in getting equity in overseas mines.

CIL is also processing a plan for firming strategic partnerships with global majors and has shortlisted 12 firms, including Peabody of the US and Indonesia's Bumi. Some eight companies have made their presentations earlier this month. Four more are to make their proposals shortly.

One of the models that CIL is looking at could be that Coal India takes 10-15% equity in a producing mine or upto 25% in expanded capacity of an existing mine. In return, it will get captive right on a certain quantity of production. For CIL, such a partnership will ensure long-term volumes to bridge domestic supply gap and help it to cushion against price volatility.

The company had to import 59 million tonnes of coal when prices were at their peak of $60-65 per tonne of thermal coal. It will also help the company to achieve capacity targets quickly as expansion in India is hampered by the fact that most coal-bearing areas are inhabited and entail massive relief and rehabilitation of population.

Source: Times Of India

JSW Steel To Sell Mozambique Coal Mine

JSW Steel may sell its coal mine in Mozambique to sister company JSW Energy as the mine has become commercially unviable for the steel
producer, a top company executive said. Although the deal size could not be ascertained, a person privy to the development said it could be around Rs 300 crore. JSW Energy, which is in the process of raising fund through a public issue to expand power generation capacity, is currently sourcing thermal coal from JSW Steel under a purchase agreement.

Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel had acquired 200 million tonne Mozambique block through its affiliate JSW Natural Resources Mozambique a few years ago hoping to extract coking coal to feed its steel plant at Vijayanagar, Karnataka. But, the initial exploration and drilling activities undertaken by the company in Mozambique has revealed that the block has thermal coal reserves instead. While thermal coal is used in power generation, coking coal goes into steel-making.

“Fortunately or unfortunately, around 80% of the coal is in the form of thermal coal at Mozambique. We will probably get it valued and sell to JSW Energy. The balance 20% of the coking coal will be used by our steel plants,” JSW group managing director Sajjan Jindal said. JSW Steel will soon appoint consultants to get exact valuation of the Mozambique mine, said another person familiar with the development.

The transfer of thermal coal mine will help JSW Energy meet raw material requirement of its existing and proposed power plants. It plans to raise generation capacity from 995 mw currently to 3,140 mw by 2010. Its maiden public issue to raise Rs 2,700 crore will open on December 7 and close on December 9.

“JSW Energy plans to import 5 million tonne of coal in 2010-11 as the power firm looks to expand generating capacity. The company will import 2 million tonne of coal each from South Africa and Indonesia, besides 1 million tonne from Australia,” Mr Jindal said.

Both JSW Steel and JSW Energy are scouting for coal mines in Australia, Indonesia and South Africa to feed raw material requirements of their steel and power businesses, respectively. JSW Steel had earlier said it has earmarked investments of $500 million for acquiring the mines overseas due to unavailability of good quality coal in India. India is expected to produce 500 million tonne of coal this fiscal.

In addition, the coal imports in the current year is expected at close to 50 million tonne due to demand-supply mismatch. This has forced several power companies to look at supply arrangements in the overseas markets.

Source: Economic Times

Benga Coal Mining Prject Gets Go-Ahead

The consortium developing a US$ 270 million coal mining project at Benga in Mozambique’s Moatize province has approved the first phase of the undertaking, the Noticias newspaper reported.

The consortium comprises Riversdale Mining of Australia, with a 65 percent stake, and India’s Tata Steel, with a 35 percent shareholding. The companies expect to produce 5.3 million tons of coal in the first stage of the joint venture, providing 1.7 million tons of high-quality coking coal and 300,000 tons of export thermal coal.

Riversdale CEO Michael O´Keefe told Noticias approval of the project’s initial phase allows his company to proceed with mining operations in Mozambique. There is great expectation for the venture due to investment involved and its impact on employment, he added.

Work to build the mine will begin before the end of this year after final environmental approval is given.

“We’re committed to bringing the Benga project into first production during the 2010 and we will be supplying world coking coal markets in 2011, initially via our relationship with project partner Tata Steel of India, “ said O’Keefe.

The Indian-Australian joint venture plans to build a thermal power station in Moatize that will come on line in 2013 with a 500 MW generating capacity.

The Benga mining concession is for 25 years.

Source: macauhub

High Ash Content To Force JSW Mozambique Cancellation

JSW Steel plans to abandon its coal mining project in Mozambique because of higher than expected ash content in the coking coal.

“We are looking at alternative sites, as the Mozambique project is commercially unviable,” Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Sajjan Jindal said.

The project has been put on hold after detailed studies. These showed burnt coal (ash) content is high, at 60 per cent. The company is now scouting for coal assets in Australia and some other countries, said Jindal.

The company has reported a 28 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 323 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, compared with the same quarter last year. The increase was on account of a 54 per cent growth in crude steel production to 1.5 million tonnes. Also, the quarter saw a Rs 21-crore loss on foreign exchange transactions. This was a far smaller loss than the Rs 268-crore loss in the same quarter last year.

Net sales in the second quarter of this financial year for the Sajjan Jindal-controlled JSW Steel went up a marginal 1.9 per cent to Rs 4,730 crore, supported by gains from sales of carbon credits and growth in volume, from the comparative quarter last year.

Profit from operations fell 22.1 per cent, with a fall in steel prices. A one-time annual benefit of Rs 60.2 crore from carbon credit sale helped the company to improve the profit.

Source: Business Standard

Baobab To Launch Mozambique Exploration Project

A new exploration programme will be undertaken by Baobab Resources PLC on the Tete iron-vanadium and titanium project in Mozambique to expand on the established resource of 47.7 million tonnes of magnetite.

The resource statement and a statement from global consultant Coffey Mining on potential for between 400 to 700 million tonnes of magnetite-ilmenite mineralisation injected some life in share trading in Baobab on the London AIM board.

Technical director Ben James told Mineweb that Baobab had been a relatively lifeless stock on AIM until details of progress on the project were detailed last month - a factor that has also seen an appreciation in the share price.

The project is immediately north of the provincial capital of Tete and takes in five known vanadiferous-titano-magnetite deposits in what is known as the Massamba Group where there was the assessment for a major system by the mining consultant.

James said that drilling over about 500 metres of an established strike length of 8 kilometres at Tete has shown magnetite resource grades of 25% iron and can be upgraded to 64% Fe and 0.7% vanadium pentoxide.

Conceptual studies show that with a growth of resources, Baobab may have a resource that could produce a ferrovanadium product grading up to 68-69% Fe and 0.8% vanadium pentoxide, as well as a ferro titanium product.

The exploration progress detailed last month has seen several companies knocking on Baobab's door, including Chinese groups, but James said the company wants to undertake more work to prove scope for a major deposit - the first magnetite-iron mining project in Mozambique - before getting into serious discussions.

Baobab has a strategic partnership with International Finance Corporation which has taken a 15% direct stake in Tete.

In logistical terms, the company is well placed. The licences adjoin the substantial coal deposits being developed at Moatize and Benga by Vale and Riversdale. There is also a railway at the regional capital of Tete linking to the port of Beira, while hydro-power is available from the Cahora Bassa dam.

There is a strong Australasian influence in Baobab as Ben James is a product of what was New Zealand's Otago School of Mines, managing director Brett Townsend is a Western Australian, and so is the company's founding director and now marketing consultant Jon Crowe, a familiar face in southern Africa.

Source: Mineweb

Vale, Tata In Mozambique Coal Studies

Vale SA, the world’s biggest iron- ore producer, and Tata Steel Ltd., India’s largest steelmaker, are involved in coal-mining viability studies in northern Mozambique, a government official said.

The companies were evaluating the potential of the Manhamba basin in Mozambique’s northern Niassa province, about 3,000 kilometers (1,865 miles) from the capital, Maputo, which the government estimates has more than 3 million metric tons of coal reserves, Niassa provincial governor Arnaldo Bimbe said in an interview yesterday.

Bimbe said that in addition to the Manhamba basin, there are “indications” of coal deposits in the Majune district about 100 kilometers east of Niassa province’s capital, Lichinga.

“We have not yet ascertained the real quantity -- the viability studies will help us know the real potential,” he said.

Tata and Vale have also won coal-mining concessions in the northwestern province of Tete, Bimbe said.

Source: Bloomberg

Riversdale Concludes Mozambique Mining Survey

Australia's Riversdale Mining has completed a feasibility study for a coal mine in Mozambique and will send it to Indian firm Tata Steel, which has a 35 percent stake in the project, to analyse.

Riversdale said in a statement on Saturday that the viability study was based on the estimates of coal reserves it made in April.

The study envisaged that, in an initial phase, 5.3 million tons will be extracted per year. Of this, 1.7 million tons will be top quality hard coking coal for export, plus 300,000 tons of thermal coal also for export.

Riversdale said expansion to the second stage, by 2014, will raise production to 10.6 million tons a year, including 3.3 million tons of coking coal and 2 million tons of thermal coal for export.

The third stage will almost double production to 20 million tons a year, it said, leaving open the timeframe.
"The timetable for the third stage will depend, among other factors, on the future conditions of the coal market, and the availability of port capacity and of rail and river transport," reads the statement.

Mining and coal processing should begin by early 2011.

SourcE: Reuters

ICVL To Start Overseas Coal Acquisitions By 2011-12

International Coal Ventures (ICVL), a special purpose vehicle created by five giant PSUs to buy coal assets abroad, has set a target of acquiring at least one such property by 2011-12. Created by sharing holding between NTPC, Coal India, NMDC, Steel Authority of India and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam, ICVL is scouting for opportunities in four countries — Australia, Mozambique, the US and Canada.

“ICVL has set a target of buying a coal property by 2011-12. It should preferably be a 5 million-tonne asset,” PK Bishnoi, chairman and managing director of RINL and executive president of ICVL, told ET. “The idea is to get access to properties with estimated reserves of around 500 million tonnes,” he added.

The SPV has bid for a coking coal property in Mozambique after initial survey of the asset. Incidentally, Mozambique has one of the largest reserves of thermal and coking coal in the world. “The latter, however, has asked for certain clarifications with regard to the bid,” a source said.

ICVL can garner a kitty of nearly Rs 10,000 crore to fund its acquisitions, if it decides to leverage its equity base of Rs 3,500 crore. The war chest could be enlarged further to Rs 25,000 crore. To a specific question on the size of a potential deal, the source added: “There is no fixed price budget. Rather, it would depend on the market price prevailing at the time of the acquisition.”

Incidentally, the global economic downturn has led to a situation where sellers are using every opportunity to delay finalisation of potential deals in the hope of an improvement in asset valuations. ICVL has shortlisted some ten merchant bankers who are advising the company on potential acquisition targets. “Depending on their interests, offer and expertise, we are in talks with them on potential target assets,” the source added.

Source: Economic Times

ICVL Close To Acquiring Mozambique Coal Blocks

International Coal Ventures, the special purpose vehicle of five leading PSUs to scout coal properties abroad, is close to acquiring four mining blocks in Mozambique with estimated reserves of 900 million tonnes.

"ICVL is the front runner to acquire the mining assets of Zamdezi Energy Corporation. The bidding date for the blocks was postponed from April 17 to May 22 as the Indian consortium had not got the necessary regulatory approvals to bid for the coking-coal assets,"an official source said.

Of the four blocks, two are unexplored while in the rest, partial drilling has been done, source added.

ICVL, which comprises SAIL, RINL, NMDC, CIL and NTPC as members, is understood to have bid on May 22 to takeover the Mozambique company that possess the mining blocks, another source familiar with the development said.

" ICVL had to seek approval from the Coal Ministry that led to a delay in its bidding for the blocks,"a senior government official said.

The Prime Minister&aposs Office during a review of ICVL had directed its members to acquire virgin thermal coal properties through Coal India&aposs overseas arm Coal Videsh. For acquisition of developed coking coal assets, it was decided that the proposals would be routed through ICVL.

As the coal properties in Mozambique are greenfield, ICVL has sought permission from the Coal Ministry to proceed with the bidding process.

Source: PTI

CAMEC Announces Billion Tonne Coal Resource In Mozambique

Central African Mining and Exploration Co Plc announced on Wednesday a resource estimate of 1.033 billion tonnes of coal for the exploration licence L871 in Mozambique.

The AIM-listed diversified producer said it has identified eleven coal zones on the licence and that its next step is to conduct a feasibility study to assess the production potential of the project.

The company said it is reviewing all options with a view to fully demonstrating the value of its coal assets to the market.

Source: Reuters

Tata Targets £1 Billion Cost Savings At Corus

Rough times call for tough measures. Tata Steel is targeting £1 billion in cost savings at its UK subsidiary, Corus, during FY’10 in a bid to tide over the ongoing global recession. The company has already managed to achieve some £650 million in cost savings upto March 2009.

The Tata Steel group also plans to secure Corus’ raw material base by investing in development of three key properties in South Africa, Canada and Mozambique. "We do not see a recovery in steel demand in Europe, US, Japan and South Korea any time soon. We have taken very strong steps in response to the market in Europe. These include cost reduction and aligning the product mix to suit customer needs," Mr B Muthuraman, managing director of Tata Steel, said at a press meeting on Friday.

Elaborating further, Corus group director of strategy, Jean-Sebastien Jacques, said these savings are based on three cost brackets. These include lowering cost of employment, cutting down on third party sourcing, setting stretch targets across all its divisions to achieve cost reduction.

"Since we are producing at a lower level, we have also been able to reduce cost of employment, apart from reducing the number of contractors. We have also speeded up a planned stretch initiative labelled ‘Fit For Future’ because of the downturn," Jean-Sebastien Jacques added.

On the raw material side, Tata Steel is poised to invest in Sedibeng, an iron ore block in South Africa with estimated reserves of 50 million tonnes alongwith access to another 100 million tonne reserves through a Canadian mining company, New Millennuim Capital. It is already developing coking coal blocks in Mozambique. "We are focussing on projects where cash outflow is small but which can be quickly put to production," Mr Muthuraman said.

Tata Steel has also managed to complete Corus’ financing by converting a bridge loan facility taken to fund the acquistion into a long term loan. "We are comfortable with the cash flow position and will be able to service the loan. We do not have any debt repayment obligation till December 2009," Mr Muthuraman said.

Source: Economic Times

Vale Launches $1.3 Billion Mozambique Coal Project

Brazilian mining giant Vale on Friday launched the construction of a $1.3 billion coal project in northern Mozambique, with a capacity to produce 11 million tonnes of coal per year.

The plant will be located in Moatize in the Tete province, and the coal produced would be exported to Brazil, Asia, the Middle East and Europe, the company said in a statement.

The project is expected to produce 8.5 million tonnes of metallurgical coal and 2.5 million tonnes of thermal coal, the company said.

"This is our first big project in Africa ... from here we will go to other countries, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Namibia for copper and nickel," Vale Chief Executive Roger Agnelli said.

South Africa holds most of Africa's coal reserves, but experts say Mozambique is expected to become the second-ranked coal producer in the continent with the development of the Moatize project by Vale, formerly known as CVRD, the world's largest iron ore producer.

The Moatize mine, which suffered extensive damage during Mozambique's civil war in the 1970s and 1980s, is believed to hold about 2.4 million tonnes of coal reserves, making it one of the largest untapped deposits in the southern hemisphere.

Mozambique, one of Africa's poorest countries and still largely dependent on agriculture, has become popular with foreign companies and investors interested in staking a claim to Africa's vast mineral and energy resources.

Mozambique's President Armando Guebuza used the launch of the project to appeal to other investors, saying Vale's involvement showed that Mozambique was a secure investment destination, even in the context of the global financial crisis.

"Vale takes to the world a message that, despite the crisis, Mozambique is a country for the future and a country to establish longstanding and sustainable partnerships," he said.

Source: Reuters

Benga Coking Coal Is "Premium Hard"

Riversdale Mining and TATA Steel Limited have advised that first results from the pilot scale coke testing programme for the Benga Exploration Licence have been received.

A coke strength after reaction (CSR)1 result of 71 was produced from the first Benga coke. This indicates the potential for the Benga coking coals to be “premium hard” coking coals. Premium hard coking coals typically have CSRs greater than 65. CSR is one of the key quality parameters used to assess coke quality.

The CSR results released today are preliminary and future results are expected to vary by seam and spatially commensurate with the observed changes in coal rank. However the results are indicative of the potential of the Benga coking coals. Riversdale is currently undertaking a pilot scale coke testing programme and will report summary results upon completion of this programme.

Riversdale Mining CEO Steve Mallyon said, “Coking results continue to confirm that the quality of the Benga coking coals will be equal to the best coking coals sold in the market today. This reaffirms our belief that Mozambique will become a key coking coal supplier to steel mills globally.”

These initial test results are expected to be a filip for Riversdale Mining, with a premium price product with one of the world's lowest cost coking coal resources. A bankable feasibility study is due this quarter with first production due in late 2010.

Source: Proactive Investors

Coal India Wins Mozambique Coal Concessions

State-owned coal miner, Coal India Ltd (CIL), is set to mark its footprint overseas having won the concession of two coal blocks in Mozambique, senior officials in the Indian High Commission told The Hindu.

Studies conducted by the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI), the consultancy and design arm of CIL, has proven substantial reserves of coking and non-coking coal in the two blocks, which are spread out over a 200 sq. km area. CIL will help in institution building and will invest in CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities as part of the deal.

Coal Ministry sources told The Hindu that “The two blocks, called A1 and A2 which are to be awarded to CIL, contain reserves of over one billion tonnes.” The Mozambique government had already published an evaluation saying that the two blocks were being awarded to Coal India.

Indications are that CIL will have to tie-up with a local company for this venture. It may also rope in an Indian partner for these opencast mines.

While 15 per cent of the output of these mines will be reserved for the host country, the balance can be exported back to India. “Eighty-five per cent is the floor level and once developed, these mines are expected to play a key role in meeting the country’s coal shortage, especially that of coking coal,” sources said. CIL has been trying to acquire overseas mining interests for quite some time now, through its own arm ‘Coal Videsh’ as well as through the joint venture International Coal Ventures Ltd (ICVL).

As part of the deal, CIL will donate 500 artificial limbs to Mozambique government to help the victims of a blast that had occurred in an open-air ammunition depot in in 2007.

Source: The Hindu

Mozambique Coal Exports To Surge

The first of three large coal mining projects in Mozambique will be exporting coal in 2010 a Cape Town coal conference was told on Wednesday.

Riversdale Mining will be exporting six-million tons of hard coking coal and two-million tons of thermal coal from the port of Beira in the latter half of next year. CFo Steve Thomas described Mozambique's Moatize area as "one of the largest undeveloped coking coal regions left in the world",

Central African Mining & Exploration Company (Camec) geologist Allan Saad added that his company planned the first phase of its export plan in 2010, starting at 1.5-million tons a year, and building up to 20-million tons a year. Consultant geologist Allan Saad said that Mozambique had the potential to become "a world-class coal producer in the medium- to long-term".

The Brazilian mining giant, Vale, also has a large project in the same area of the country, embracing mining, a coal-fired power generation, a railway line and a port.

Camec intends to truck its coal 600 km to the port of Beira, while it studies the feasibility of building a 450 km railway line for larger volumes.

Saad said that Mozambique's mining application process was computer-mediated and its mining laws World Bank-assisted.

"You walk into the department, there is a computer screen up. You switch it on and you can see where the licences are held. You are able to overlay the geology electronically and select the areas you would like to apply for. It's very simple and very effective. You put your application in and you know within 15 days whether or not you've been successful," Saad enthused.

Ravensdale CFO steve Thomas said Riverdale's Mozambique coal would be transported by rail, road or barge with rail development scheduled to begin in the second-half of this year.

A feasibility study of barging the coal down the Zambesi has already been carried out. The river splits Mozambique's Tete-Moatize coal province in two, causing different logistics rail or road arrangements to be made for those on different sides of the river.

Transporting the coal by barge will offer a huge advantage, said Thomas and allow for the transport of substantial volumes to Beira, for which upgrading contract awards are expected to be awarded in May.

Brazil and India represent 46% of the company's target export market and Indian steel giant Tata was Riversdale's partner and 10% shareholder.

Source: Mining Weekly

CoAL Secures Maputo Rail Deal

Coal of Africa (CoAL) announced on Wednesday that it has agreed a deal with Transnet Freight Rail to transport one million tonnes a year of coal to the Matola dry-bulk terminal in Maputo, Mozambique.

CoAL, which has rights of up to 100 percent of any increased capacity at the Matola Terminal, also said it would provide funding for the proposed expansion to a capacity of 3 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa). The expansion is due to be completed by August 2010.

In addition, a feasibility study for a further 10 Mtpa increase in capacity is now underway.

"Given that the company also has the rights to this additional capacity, CoAL may secure a total of 13 Mtpa export capacity via the Matola Terminal" said CoAL MD Simon Farrell.

This would enable CoAL to deliver significant volumes of coking coal to global and domestic markets, he said.

IFC Pledges USD5million To Tete Iron Ore Project

An iron-ore exploration project in Mozambique's Tete province owned by Australian miner Baobab Resources has been given a $5-million boost that will sustain the miner's local workforce during the global financial crisis.

World Bank subsidiary The International Finance Corporation (IFC), has announced that it will provide Baobab with an equity package of up to $5-million, in an effort to support local jobs and economic development.

The funding will be used for the exploration and feasibility phases of the Tete project, which comprises three contiguous exploration licences, covering 632 km2.

"Baobab is very pleased to have secured a joint-venture partner of IFC's reputation to participate in the future exploration and development of the Tete project," nonexecutive chairperson Jeremy Dowler said in a statement.

IFC global head for mining William Bulmer commented that the IFC was committed to assisting companies that developed projects in an environmentally and socially responsible manner, and in regions with low economic growth.

"Notwithstanding the current global financial crisis that has dried up much-needed liquidity, the IFC remains open for business and we will continue to invest in attractive junior mining companies," he added.

The loan is expected to support technology transfers and management skills transfers to Baobab's local work force.

Further, the World Bank group is collaborating with the Mozambican government to improve the investment climate in the mining sector, which is expected to play a "growing role" in the country's economy, said the IFC.

Source: Mining Weekly