Brazilian mining giant Vale expects to start exporting coal from its Moatize mine in Tete Province of Mozambique in 2011.
According to Vale CEO Roger Agnelli, the mine, which is located in an area with estimated coal reserves of 2.5 billion mt, will produce 40 million mt of coal per annum a few years after commissioning and has an expected life span of 25 years.
Vale had won the relevant government tender in 2004 and subsequently paid $123 million for the license to extract coal from the Moatize mine, the country's biggest mine in terms of reserves.
Vale will export the coal by rail to the eastern Mozambique port of Beira in Sofala Province, more than 600 kilometers away from the production site.
In the current financial year Vale has spent $130 million in Mozambique, whereas the total amount invested by the company so far in related projects in the country amounts to $250 million.