Brazilian mining major Vale’s Moatize mine, in the Tete province of Mozambique, produced some four-million tons of coal last year, its second full year of operation. Of this total, about three-million tons was transported to the Port of Beira by around 2 000 trains along the Sena railway line. This coal was then exported, using 35 ships. Read on page 16 of this edition of Mining Weekly of Moatize Phase 1, Vale’s first greenfield project outside Brazil, which has been developed at a cost of $1.88-billion, having a production capacity of 11-million tons a year and of Moatize Phase 2 doubling that to 22- million tons a year. Development of Phase 2, which requires an investment of $2.06-billion, will start next year.

There is a contention that South Africa’s minerals sector could be falling short of achieving its full potential as a result of failing to identify opportunities to increase stakeholder value and then to bridge effectively the gap between strategic business plans and implementation of the potential improvements identified. Read on page 37 of this edition of Mining Weekly the first article of a four-part series, which focuses on operational efficiency in line with the typical approach of mining companies to business planning. The second, third and fourth articles will deal with the latest strategic optimisation techniques; the nonmining steps of an optimisation; and alternative approaches to combining the implementation of long-term plans with short-term gains.

Creamer Media, the publisher of Mining Weekly, Engineering News and Research Channel Africa, has implemented a new technology for the digital viewing of the weekly editions of these publications. The new e-magazine format is accessible to subscribers on the Mining Weekly and Engineering News websites and on Research Channel Africa. The technology provides readers with a higher-quality digital publication that has an improved user experience. The weekly magazines as well as Research Channel Africa can now be viewed in an interactive ‘flip magazine’ format that includes benefits such as hyperlinked email and website addresses; higher-resolution images and advertisements; a search, note-making and sharing functionality, which is accessible through the ‘down arrow’ menu, middle-top of your web browser window. Please note that the low-resolution portable data format version of the magazines will also continue to be available in the ‘Back Copies’ section of the Mining Weekly and Engineering News websites and on Research Channel Africa.