Mozambique seeks new tender for Chibuto heavy sands project

The Mozambican government is looking for a new investor for the Chibuto heavy sand project, located in the south of the African country.

The project in Gaza province, about 200 km north of the capital Maputo, was abandoned by the Australian company Corridor Sands about three years ago, and sold its shares to the BHP Billiton, without giving convincing reasons to the government.

The BHP Billiton asked the Mozambican government to give it two years so as to look for a high technology to dig the minerals, but the Ministry of Mineral Resources considered the period as too long.

It decided to cancel the contract with the BHP Billiton, which owns the Mozal aluminum smelter on the outskirts of Maputo.

Now the ministry is preparing a new tender for the Chibuto project, to be announced in the near future.

National Director of Mines Eduardo Alexandre has told the Mozambique News Agency that the winner of the tender will be known in 60 days.

The Chibuto heavy sands project needs an investment worth 100 million U. S. dollars to make it operational.

Another heavy sands project is operational in the northern province of Nampula.

Source:Xinhua