Gaza: Heavy sands project pilot phase producing 400 tonnes per day

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Gaza: Heavy sands project pilot phase producing 400 tonnes per day

11:57 CAT | 21 May 2019

Photo: O País

The heavy sands project in Chibuto, Gaza province, southern Mozambique, is already producing 400 tons of titanium and zircon ore a day while still in its pilot phase.

Speaking during his visit to the enterprise last week, Minister of Transport and Communications Carlos Mesquita said that all production was destined for export.

“So we have to look at the logistics chain, from the point of view of transferring the cargo from the factory to the port and from the port to the sea,” the minister said, cited by Notícias yesterday.

Mesquita was satisfied with the results of the first samples, which were sent to several customers.

Currently, the project employs 450 Mozambicans and 40 foreigners of Chinese nationality. By 2020, the number of Mozambican employees is expected to rise to around 1500.

According to projections, next year production is expected to increase to about 600 tonnes of titanium and zircon ore per day. The factory’s installed capacity is about five million tons of ores per year.

One transport possibility was the installation of a railway linking Chibuto and Chókwè – a distance of about 70 kilometres. A second plan, verified in discussion with the company, is using the Limpopo River to ferry the merchandise via Chongoene.

As far as the government was concerned, there is flexibility, and contacts have already been initiated with Maputo Port with a view to creating a specific zone for the storage and export of the ores, Mesquita said.

The Mozambique Railways (CFM) have already surveyed the possible building of a rail line, but the final decision will depend on the extractor.

According to Noticias, environmental issues are being taken care of, and resettlement is progressing satisfactorily, with 212 families so far relocated to the resettlement zone, where 489 houses have been built.

During his visit, Mesquita was updated on the construction of the airport in Chongoene. Works were proceeding according to schedule, he said.

“Contractors are already mobilised for a project that includes a terminal, ancillary buildings and a runway 1,800 metres in length and 45 metres wide. Tenders were launched for the first phase, which has already started, and the contractor who is to build the runway has also arrived,” he announced.

Source: AIM Moçambique