The Chinese company Ding Sheng Minerals, SA, which operates the Chibuto heavy sands mine in the southern province of Gaza, will begin exporting the resource in the first quarter of this year, as construction work on the Chongoene dock, which will be used to dock vessels, is expected to be completed soon.
The construction of the Chongoene dock arose from the need to find a more flexible and profitable way of exporting the heavy sands from Chibuto, thus avoiding the high costs of transporting them by road to the port of Maputo and then on to the foreign market.
“The works are progressing according to the schedule initially drawn up, which leads us to conclude that the heavy sands export operations could take place at the end of the first quarter of this year,” revealed Chongoene’s administrator, Artur Macamo, quoted on Tuesday 6 February by the newspaper Noticias.
According to Macamo, the whole venture is valued at more than 300 million dollars. “In the initial phase, 20,000 tonnes of cargo will be shipped per day and by 2025 we expect the volume to rise to more than 40,000. As well as minerals extracted in Chibuto, the dock will in future serve as an exit point for heavy sands from Chongoene and Mandlakazi, which are expected to start being exploited soon,” he said.
For this month of February, the administrator revealed that the unloading and storage of heavy sands for later export is scheduled to begin. “The work is going smoothly and the warehouses have already been completed,” he emphasised.
According to Artur Macamo, the start-up of the infrastructure will boost the district’s development, opening up space for the creation of business opportunities in the context of social and corporate responsibility.
