COUNTRY IN FOCUS •

The province of Cabo Delgado in Mozambique hosts a diverse range of natural resources and is also a current terrorist hotspot , both of which are shaping the future there , writes Dr Nicolaas C Steenkamp .

LNG – the country ’ s most important fossil fuel The worst affected area has been the city of Palma and the port of Mocímboa da Praia , 60km south of the Afungi peninsula , where major liquid natural gas ( LNG ) export facilities are being developed for offshore reservoirs . The LNG deposits are the most important fossil fuel source in the country , after the coal rich Tete province . In 2010 significant deposits of high-quality natural gas were found off the coast of Cabo Delgado . In 2021 the province became home to Africa ’ s three largest LNG projects : the Mozambique LNG Project led by Total ; the Coral FLNG Project led by ENI and ExxonMobil ; and the Rovuma LNG Project led by ExxonMobil , ENI and CNPC . Regardless of the unrest , the project finance remains fully intact , which means that the projects have not been abandoned . Even the export credit insurance remains intact , which is also a good sign that the projects are still set to go ahead .

Precious stones in the region The precious stone deposits of Cabo Delgado became instantly famous following the discovery of rubies outside the city of Montepuez in April 2009 . By the end of 2010 thousands of artisanal miners , or ‘ garimpeiros ’ as they are locally known in Mozambique , were mining the deposits . The deposit is currently owned and operated by Gemfields Mining subsidiary Montepuez Ruby Mining ( MRM ), a joint venture ( JV ) with Mozambique-registered company Mwiriti . The region also hosts notable deposits of garnet in Nakata , in addition to tantalite .

Graphite , marble , dolomite and other aggregates It was announced in 2021 that the Montepuez district boasted notable flake graphite deposits . The medium and small flake graphite of between 60 % and 70 % anticipated from the projects , preferred by certain end-users in the lithium-ion battery anode , are a feedstock for micronised graphite . While the main graphite deposit is owned by Tirupati Graphite , economic graphite deposits are also located in various stages of development in the region of Balma . The Ancuabe graphite mine is forecast to produce

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approximately 60,000 tonnes per annum ( tpa ) in concentrate form for approximately 27 years .

In the Montepuez district , marble is quarried for dimension stone and very pure dolomite for industrial use . Marmonte in Montepuez quarries white , grey and multicoloured marble blocks for processing in their facilities in the town of Pemba , some of which is destined for export .

Extensive extraction of industrial aggregates , sand and gravel is also undertaken in this region and throughout the larger Cabo Delgado industrialised areas and crystalline granitic rock is preferentially mined for industrial stone applications .

Gold Namuno is known for relatively rich , near-surface gold deposits that have been exploited by artisanal miners for several decades . Most of the near-surface gold deposits have however been exhausted in the last couple of years , calling for the artisanal miners to employ heavier machinery to access the deeper mineralisation . An initiative was launched by the European Union to discourage the use of mercury for the recovery of free gold , and to rather utilise the gravitational extraction method , by which a concentrate is obtained . This requires the use of small amounts of sodium borate ( borax ), thereby avoiding the use of mercury . Gold mining operations extend from Muaja to Macomia .