Vulcan, a unit of an India-based group that works Mozambique’s Moatize coal mine in Tete province, in the centre of the country, exceeded “pollution limits” set for the facility, failing to observe environmental quality standards, the country’s minister of land and environment said on Monday.
“Vulcan.. was found to have exceeded the pollution limits, having carried out various dismantling activities, which are detonation activities at mine level, without observing the environmental quality standards,” said the minister, Ivete Maibaze, in comments quoted by the private channel STV.
The findings follow complaints from residents of eight neighbourhoods in Moatize, in the province of Tete, in central Mozambique, where the company mines coal, who have been complaining about the consequences of increased pollution due to Vulcan’s operations.
“Your extraction and mining practices are not in line with any human experience defended and protected within the universal declaration of human rights,” reads a letter from the residents to the company that Lusa has seen.
According to the minister, a team was set up to assess Vulcan’s compliance with the environmental management plan, following complaints of dust caused by the mining operations at the beginning of August.
“This team has requested all the documentation for the environmental management plan, which is an instrument that governs the operation of the respective mine,” she said. “We are still at the ministry’s headquarters making the appropriate assessment.
“This team has requested all the documentation for the environmental management plan, which is an instrument that governs the operation of the respective mine,” she went on. “We are still at the ministry’s headquarters making a proper assessment of the preliminary results that have been brought by our team that has been on the ground.”
According to Maibaze, in addition to environmental pollution, the company’s operations have also resulted in “constraints” on the operation of traffic on the N7 highway.
On 22 August, Vulcan’s CEO, Mukesh Kumar, professed to Lusa the company’s “commitment” to “environmental compliance” just days after complaints from local communities about increased pollution.
“We have a zero harm policy, Kumar told Lusa. “And when we say zero harm, we mean zero harm to the environment… All our facilities have been equipped with the latest equipment and technology available.
“Sometimes a system fails and we have to take precautions,” he added. “If there is an error, I can say that we are totally committed to ensuring that no one in our community suffers.”
Vulcan explores an area of 250 square kilometres in Moatize and the community closest to the mines is located at least 350 metres away, said the CEO.
The company is part of the Jindal Group, which has a market value of $18 billion (€16.5 billion). It previously operated the Chirodzi mine, also in Tete procince.
In the last three years alone, Vulcan has mined more than 35 million tonnes of coal a year at Moatize, having taken over the operation in April 2022 from Brazil’s Vale, for more than $270 million (€257 million).
Vale was present in Mozambique for 15 years, operating the Moatize mine and 912 kilometres of railway in the Nacala Logistics Corridor for the transport of coal – which was also sold to Vulcan.
In May, the Vulcan CEO told Lusa that he expects output at Moatize this year to reach between 50 million and 52 million tonnes, making the mine among the world’s largest producers.
Lusa
