Brazilian mining major Vale president and CEO Murilo Ferreira has assured that his group has a long-term perspective regarding Mozambique and its investments in that country. He did so during a visit to the African country, which took place from January 11 to 13. He was accompanied by other senior Vale executives.

“Vale is here to stay,” he affirmed. “Our vision continues to be long-term. “We have been well received in Mozambique and we want to see in each kilometre of railway a new opportunity from which people and companies can enjoy the benefits of our projects. “We don’t want to create an activity from which we emerge victorious and the population of Mozambique does not benefit. “They should contribute to the development of the country.”

The group’s local subsidiary, Vale Mozambique, has developed and operates the Moatize coal mine in the interior province of Tete. This started production in August 2011. Moatize Phase 1 has a nominal yearly production capacity of 8.5-million tons of metallurgical coal and 2.5-million tons of thermal coal. Phase 2 will double these figures. The coal has to be transported to the coast and loaded on ships for export. Currently, this is being done down the Sena railway to the port city of Beira. This route suffers from capacity limitations, despite continuing upgrades.

Consequently, Vale is investing more than $1.2-billion in the rehabilitation of existing, and construction of new, railway track through Malawi and Mozambique to link Moatize to the Port of Nacala-a-Velha to complement the Sena line. Work started in 2012 and should be completed during the second half of this year. The Nacala line will run for 912 km, of which some 250 km will be new construction (mostly in Malawi). The resulting line will have a nominal capacity of 18-million tons a year. It will also be used to transport people and general cargo. The Nacala port is also being upgraded with a new coal terminal to handle the product that will come its way once the railway is finished.

“The port terminal of Nacala-a-Velha marks a very big jump in the coal business of Vale,” said Ferreira, while visiting the port terminal construction site at the city. He stressed the importance of the new terminal in ensuring the return on the large investments which the group has made in Mozambique.

In Maputo, Ferreira met with employees of Vale Mozambique. The discussions centred on issues of health and safety and on Vale’s investments in the country. He also fulfilled what Vale called, without giving any details, “external obligations”.

Separately, last month, Vale participated in the launch of the African Mineral Development Centre (AMDC) at the Third African Union (AU) Conference of African Ministers Responsible for Mineral Resources Devel-opment, in Maputo. The miner was represented by its Mozambique Capital Projects director, Ricardo Saad. Also represented were the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the Mozambique Association for Coal Development (of which Vale is a member), as well as representatives of governments, civil society and communities. The AMDC is intended to help AU member states and organisations connected with the minerals sector to better use these resources to achieve the economic and social development of Africa, including the reduction of poverty and social inequality.

Saad participated in a round-table discussion at the event, during which he cited Vale’s efforts to train and qualify its employees in Mozambique through various programmes. Further, he spoke about the company’s local development programmes in Mozambique and Malawi. The intent is to reduce the number of expatriates employed by the group in these countries.