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Joint venture reopens graphite mine in Mozambique

7th July 2017

By: Keith Campbell

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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The Ancuabe graphite mine, in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, was reopened on June 28, following 18 years of inactivity. This was the result of a private-sector investment of €12-million in the project. The mine is now operated by GK Ancuabe Graphite Mine Sociedade Anônima, which is a joint venture between Germany’s Graphite Kropfmuhl (Kropfmuhl, also known as AMG Graphite; this is a subsidiary of AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group, domiciled in the Netherlands) and local enterprise Empresa Moçambicana de Exploração Mineira.

Kropfmuhl acquired the mining concession for Ancuabe in an international open tender process in 2012. Since then, the mine and its processing plant have both been rehabilitated and expanded. The processing plant can now handle 9 000 t/y of graphite. Ancuabe’s production will be exported to Germany. GK Ancuabe is reported by the Mozambique media to be the first of the enterprises investing in the country’s graphite resources to start production.

Kropfmuhl also has a prospecting licence for graphite in the Nipacué locality in the area of Malema, also in Cabo Delgado, which is believed to hold a graphite resource estimated at 900 000 t. This estimate is compliant with Joint Ore Reserves Committee (better known as JORC) principles. (Cabo Delgado province occupies Mozambique’s north-west coastal region and is the country’s most northerly province, bordering Tanzania.)

The Ancuabe mine directly employs 100 people. The importance of the project was demonstrated by the fact that the opening was conducted by Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi and attended by German ambassador Detlev Wolter. (Ancuabe actually finished its commissioning in early May.) Nyusi described the project as one that would have a direct impact on the economic and social lives of all Mozambicans. He added that it was a crucial step in the development of the minerals sector in Cabo Delgado.

“The extraction of graphite has returned through concrete acts and this is one of them,” affirmed Nyusi in his speech. “The return to activity of the mine, which has been closed for a number of years, shows the commitment of government to the creation of a business environment favourable to the private sector.”

The reactivated mine was an example of how the private sector could contribute to government’s agenda of promoting integrated, inclusive and sustainable economic development, he added. “The company is making material the vision of the Mozambique government with regard to the sustainable exploitation of the natural resources which the country has, ensuring that the generations to come will also benefit from these resources.”

The President also promised to strengthen the State’s capacity to create an inventory of the mineral potential of the country. “Geological mapping and research after independence show that the country holds enormous quantities of resources.”

Further, Nyusi, in his speech, gave the assurance that government would continue to fight illegal mining. It would also seek to create a national organised artisanal mining sector, which would ensure that these small-scale miners could participate in the sector in a structured and legal way.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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