Australian mining company Riversdale Mining has announced that initial indications from the government of Mozambique show that it is keen to develop barging from the Zambeze project, near Tete, down the Zambezi river to the river mouth at Chinde, where the coal can be exported to international markets.

Riversdale Mining executive chairperson Michael O’Keeffe reports that the company has completed a series of studies on the Zambezi river to confirm the viability of large-scale barging of coal to an offshore floating transloading vessel.

“To date, high-definition bathymetric surveying, wave analysis, hydrology, water quality, water depth and flow modelling, and sediment sampling studies have been undertaken as well as design engineering for loading barge and push tugs,” says O’Keeffe.

He adds that an environmental-impact study (EIS) was done in August and a series of stakeholder consultations were conducted throughout September with the community and government in Tete, Chimoio, Beira and Maputo. Specialist studies will continue in the current quarter.

It is expected that a barging feasibility study will be submitted to the government of Mozambique along with the EIS during the second half of 2010. Riversdale Mining has found no physical impediments to coal barging on the Zambezi river, although some dredging may be required on certain sections of the river.

Implementation of large-scale barging will depend on, besides other issues, completion and approval of an EIS and an environmental management plan, licensing by Mozambique statutory authorities for barging and transloading operations over the 560 km from Tete to Chinde, and stakeholder and community consultation in the Zambezi river valley.

“This will be a landmark for mining on the continent as logistics is a significant challenge that companies need to over- come. This is a safe and efficient way to overcome the logistics challenge in a country with limited road infrastructure,” says O’Keeffe.

The Zambeze project is the company’s second major coal project in the Moatize Basin and is adjacent to the Benga coal project.

The Zambeze project estimate is based on 120 boreholes comprising 40 000 m of drilling conducted over the past year. The project has a total area of just over 247 km2 and exploration to date has been concentrated on the northern portion of the licence area.

The Zambeze project is similar in structure to Benga, with 22 coal seams outcropping over a strike length of 14 km across the northern portion of the tenement. Based on the drilling undertaken by Riversdale Mining, the total coal resource is estimated to be 1,70-billion tons.

O’Keeffe says that the considerable effort of the company in Mozambique has now delivered another potential tier 1 project with similar coal to Benga’s, but which is likely to be a significantly larger-scale operation. A second coking coal project of this size could position Riversdale Mining as a preferred supplier to the steel industry in the rapidly developing markets of Brazil and India.

The Zambeze project area is characterised by relatively flat topography and is adjacent to excellent infrastructure, including the city of Tete, power, water, sealed roads, rail, an international airport and direct access to the Zambezi river.

Based on washability analyses, potential coal products, which could be produced after beneficiation from the Zambeze project, include an export hard coking coal and a secondary thermal coal product consisting of high-energy export thermal coal suitable for the Indian and African markets.

Riversdale Mining has committed to an extensive programme of drilling, and to coal quality and market studies to deter- mine the feasibility of large-scale openpit development.

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