CVRD wins bid for Mozambique's Moatize coal mines
Brazil's Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) has won the bid to develop Mozambique's rich Moatize coal mines, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Castigo Langa said on Friday.
Moatize, in Mozambique's central Tete province, is believed by the government to hold 2.5 billion to 3.0 billion tonnes of coal deposits, the largest coal deposits in Africa.
"This is a very important process for the government. We have big expectations. After the concession of the Sena (rail) line, we think it will have a huge impact on Mozambique's economy," Langa told a news briefing.
CVRD and fellow global diversified miners Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto had bid to develop the mines and held preliminary talks with the Mozambique government in August.
(From Reuters, November 12, 2004)
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