It is reported that coal miner Beacon Hill Resources is looking for new properties to acquire in Mozambique now that production has started at Minas Moatize.
Mr Peter Wilson chief operating officer of subsidiary BHR Mining said first shipments of thermal coal departed the port of Beira this week, while the group will start to export hard coking coal, by truck in the first quarter of 2012.
He said that once the contractor takes over it will free up more time for the BHR team to focus on new properties.
Mr Wilson said “There are a lot of properties still available in Mozambique and it is just a matter of getting the right ones. He said that the firm hadn’t noticed any impact on demand from the global economic concerns even though steel makers are among the biggest consumers of coal.”
He added that the output from Minas Moatize, which is in the Tete Province of Northern Mozambique, is primarily sold to India, where the smaller type of ship that uses port of Beira is ideal.
The group is also close to completing a definitive feasibility study to expand the mine, he added, that will include mine design, a mine plan and infrastructure as well as boosting washplant capacity from 120 tonnes per hour to between 350-400.
Heads of agreement, meanwhile, have been signed with South African contractor Basil Read to operate the mine as it ramps up production next year. The target is to increase production to 4 million tonnes a year run of mine coal over the following 12 months producing 2.35Mtpa of saleable coal for export and domestic markets.
That will include a total of 920,000 tonnes coking coal, and 880,000 tonnes export quality thermal coal. The remainder will be sold domestically at the mine gate or will be sold to neighboring countries.
The group recently dropped plans to acquire another licence in the Moatize area due to the concerns over the quality of the coal, but there are other options.
The group first shipment of 10,650 tonnes of thermal coal from Minas Moatize was trucked to Beira ahead of being shipped. Longer term, the group's intention is to utilise the Sena rail line.
Minas Moatize is a member of Taskforce One, together with VALE, Rio Tinto and government agency CFM, which is finalizing terms of reference to complete the refurbishment of the Sena rail line to an initial capacity of 6.5 million tonnes per annum in mid 2012 and then to a fully operational capacity of 12 million tonnes per annum later in the year.
Beacon Hill recently revised its offtake agreement with partner Global Coke, which will now take 600,000 tonnes per year instead of all of the coking output from Minas Moatize.
(Sourced from www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk)
